


All there is

by Barbayat



Series: In the darkness of space ... [1]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Gen, Interrogation, Mind Games, Mystery, Original Character(s), Plot, Psychological Torture, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-12
Updated: 2014-01-08
Packaged: 2017-12-11 14:29:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 35,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/799753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Barbayat/pseuds/Barbayat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-Into Darkness: Believing that Spock killed his entire crew, Khan is awoken by Malek, a ruthless Cardassian, who uses his need for revenge to further his own plans. Khan does not take kindly to being used. A dangerous mind game begins between the two men that eventually draws others into the struggle, like Lea Jagoda, a space travelling doctor with her own secrets.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shared goals

**Author's Note:**

> I add tags as they become relevant, no need to give the impression that there is something happening when it might only show up in later chapters.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Khan deals with a particularly annoying "ally".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks to AlessNox for beta-reading this chapter and giving me such helpful feedback.
> 
> Version: 2.1

Terrok Tar was not nearly as elegant or comfortable as the Starfleet base where the Vengeance was build nearly four years ago, but it suited his purpose just fine. The alien architecture served Khan as constant reminder, that he was now truly alone. The rest of his crew, his family, was dead. Murdered by the one person that he had grossly underestimated.

Now, his own death was not far off - but at least his new allies had given him the chance to take revenge before the end.

Allies was the wrong word. The Cardassians were using him for their own purposes. There was no trust between them. Not for a second Khan was inclined to believe the enemy of his enemy was his friend. Having outlived his usefulness, they would turn on him. He was prepared for that. His plans were not limited to the destruction of Starfleet by obliterating their infrastructure on Earth.

For now, he was watching from one of the upper pylons and looked towards the starship being assembled under his guidance. With his expertise, the Cardassians had begun the construction of a federation vessel. Once finished it would bear a close resemblance to the Enterprise, even a scan would not reveal that there was more to this ship. It made the Trojan horse pale in comparison. It would allow them to get to the heart of the enemy and deploy weapons of mass destruction that would annihilate life on Earth. All that, before they had even a chance to notice what was wrong.

Then he would turn his gaze towards New Vulcan to make Spock pay for taking his people away from him. That part would be easiest. The Vulcans were like sitting ducks. What worried him was whether he would have enough time to carry out the attacks and then confront the Enterprise about it.

He was well aware from spy reports that Kirk and his crew where near the end of their five year mission far away from Federation space. Khan longed for that moment. To welcome them home to their planets burning. He did not even need to kill them. In hindsight, killing Admiral Marcus so quickly had been to kind. Spock would live to suffer the same fate as Khan, only the Vulcan would live longer.

“Admiring your work?”

Even before Malek had spoken, Khan had noticed his presence. He was not sure if the Cardassian had tried to sneak up on him, the Cardassian spy always moved with stealth. It was just no use against his superior senses.

“Construction is not going as fast it could.”

Khan answered without taking his eyes off the ship. For him a faster progression was essential. From the tests he had run on himself, he estimated that he might have four month left. He was not taking chances, he knew he could convince Malek to follow his suggestion.

“You know how it is with secret projects - limited personnel, supplies.”

As always, lying through his teeth, the Cardassian made excuses. He did everything but outright say, that Khan's shortened lifespan was not his problem. However, their conversations danced around the subject, acting if actually was. Malek seemed to thrive on these discussion, Khan felt merely annoyed by them. There were not intellectually challenging. It was quite the opposite.

Not that he did not appreciate the fact that the Cardassian operatives surrounding him were far better trained than the ones working at section 31. It was much harder for him to gather reliable information. Personnel that were actually in the loop were too smart to let anything slip. The soldiers stationed here had only limited insight and were often too afraid to talk. The scientists were always grateful to be able to leave his presence and go about their assigned tasks.

“Have you given any thoughts, to my suggestions?”

Finally, Khan turned to face Malek. He towered over the alien, who was more robust than a human but still no match for him. Calm and collected, the other looked up to him. His lips curling to a devious smile.

After they had torn him out of cryosleep, Khan had had killed every Cardassian who had occupied the room. It was not that he had not realised that he was not in Starfleet custody any more. It was what he wanted to do. The murderous rage had accompanied him into his sleep and had woken up with him.

The floor littered with dead Cardassian scientists and soldiers he had heard the sound of hands being clapped together. At that moment, he had the displeasure to hear Malek's voice for the first time. He had enjoyed the scene, his voice sounded cheerful and he was not hiding how impressed he had been. That told him enough about who his opponent was. A man who had deliberately sent his own people in to be killed just so he could observe how effective Khan was. He had learned since then that the Obsidian Order was known to step over a few Cardassian corpses if that served their purposes.

Even though the method of persuasion was different, overall he was in a very familiar situation. Only this time he considered the odds for his plan to succeed to be in his favour. 

“If we could get a hold of a Federation vessel, that would resolve the material problem. It might also be useful to have some humans ...,” Malek began.

“Where lies the problem?” Khan cut him short.

Hearing about the merits of his own suggestion was unnecessary. He knew that it was just a way to get him to reveal more of his knowledge. He played his cards carefully. They needed him only for the details that allowed them to copy the ship. Afterwards, he would be expendable. 

While Malek was not his intellectual equal, he was far smarter than Admiral Marcus. Not that this was a compliment. An equally ruthless man might have thought about torturing the information out of him. Khan was not going to break in an interrogation. Especially not with a virus putting a foreseeable end to this life. Realizing that this approach was futile, Malek had created their current pretend alliance. At this point, it was the only way to gain Khan's compliance: a shared goal. The Cardassian spy had thought constant surveillance and restricted access would keep him under control.

Already Khan had set things in motion, he just needed to push a bit more.

“The Federation so far has not sent a ship our way. At least not one that we can take over easily enough. They still might call for help - that could alert them to our plans.”

“You are telling me, you can not jam their frequencies?”

If Malek wanted more insight into Starfleet's communication capabilities, he would be disappointed. He was not giving them any more than they needed.

“Not with 100% certainty. Our communication systems work differently.”

 

It took a bit of careful confabulation but Khan finally managed to reach a consensus with Malek. The Cardassians were unwilling to let him go aboard one of their ships and let him take charge of the capture. Khan had no intention of spending hour after hour outlining the technical specifics of the communication system used by the Federation.

So he would build a device for one of the Galor class ships that was perfectly capable of suspending all communication in the sector around it. Giving him the chance to add some extra functions and gain access to the Cardassian communication systems. 

Despite the Cardassians being more efficient at watching his movements than Marcus had ever been, his plans were moving along just fine. He obviously needed to throw Malek a bone, let him stumble upon some scheme of his, to take his suspicions off of what he was really doing.

Back in the main laboratory, which was not far from his quarters, he began with the basic design. from the beginning he had noticed the surveillance systems in all key locations: like his lab and living quarters . Making a close assessment of their range, he soon knew how to evade supervision when he needed to. Otherwise it hardly bothered him. As with everything else it was a delicate dance. Sooner or later one of them would step out of order. Khan did not doubt that they thought they had the upper hand on him. That worked in his favour. They would be in for a quite a surprise.

This thought calmed his mind. For the simple truth of his situation was, that once more he had been made a prisoner. Used by someone else for their purposes. Whatever common interest gave them a shared goal, he would make them pay. He was Khan Noonian Singh. He was made to rule the world - not to be someone's chess piece.


	2. The USS Reliant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The captured starfleet ship and her crew arrive ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Version 2.1 - Beta-read by AlessNox

After some more cumbersome discussions with Malek, the Cardassian had finally sent out a couple of Galor class ships. Khan hid how pleased he was about getting him to do what he wanted. Instead, he feigned little interest beyond the resources the ship would provide. 

The truth was, he was anxious to see the captured Starfleet officers arrive. They were the first ones to feel his wrath. It would be good to see someone being punished even if not directly by himself. He imagined Malek finding ways to limit his access to the captured crew. Which was something he would deal with in his own way. 

When the ships came back to the station, he casually strolled toward one of the larger windows overlooking the docking stations. Khan knew that the Cardassian ships were quite capable of capturing a bigger vessel than he was letting on. Yet, he had not expected the ship to be quite so large.

The designation on the ship identified it as the USS Reliant. He smiled. The ship was heavily damaged on the aft section and part of the hull on the front was missing. Still, there should be whole sections that they would be able to transfer onto their ship.

As expected the pitiful shielding technology had made the victory easy. The Cardassian ships were barely damaged. The Grut'na with his device on board had returned safely. Everything was going to plan. Khan took it as a sign of perpetual weakness that the Federation had not been able to improve much.

He would not even be surprised if they had not bothered to install any additional security on their headquarters and other strategic locations on Earth. Either way, this time around he was going to level everything to the ground.

At any rate it was only a matter of time till the Federation would perish. Without men like him to lead, they were doomed. Making him an enemy had been an even worse mistake. They would pay for it. Even if they were to use every single weapon left from what he had given to Marcus, they were still out of their league.  
Since that triumph was still a few weeks into the future, he settled for a smaller one. With quick steps that made the soldiers accompanying him jump as he swept past them. He walked over to the second floor railings. It was an ideal position to watch the newly made prisoners being marched to the prison and mining complex.

Khan observed them carefully and made mental notes for later. The Captain was not among the officers, which probably meant he died in the attack. The commander was a stern looking black man. By the look on his face, he was the one forced to surrender. He was also the only one of the crew that observed his surroundings with care. Most of the crew was in shock. They seemed disoriented, some where injured and others just looked to the floor.

What good was their civil society now? They were not even able to handle one act of sudden aggression. Some stared at the Cardassians with unbelieving eyes, as if they had never expected them to be the attackers. With all that scaremongering about the possible war with the Klingons, they had not counted on an attack by a race they were only vaguely familiar with.

It was true that until recently the Obsidian Order did not have much pull. Then famine had struck Cardassia Prime and all of their agricultural colonies. The order had been there to take over. Khan considered that maybe they even had caused the famine. The way the Cardassian soldiers talked about the Obsidian Order, they were not above such a ploy to further their power. It was too much of a coincidence that this crisis came just at the right time with them being ready with resources, a plan and the means to see it through. He admired the absolute ruthlessness they showed. Khan considered it their most endearing trait.

Memorizing how the survivors of the Reliant looked, he used the opportunity to also count them. There were twenty nine crew members, five officers including the commander and four people out of uniform. Among them was a woman who despite her human appearance was wearing a dress of obvious alien design. He was not quite able to determine what her purpose on the ship was. The other three were dressed like crew members who just happened to be off duty when they had been attacked. There were eight aliens all together among the survivors. None of them posed a serious threat. 

That still left about twenty to thirty people unaccounted for judging by the minimum crew-size of a ship of this class. He concluded that they must have been killed. The hull breach no doubt sucking a few of them into space. Even if anyone was still hiding on board it was nothing that worried him.

Just as he wanted to turn his attention to the ship itself, he realized that the woman in the alien dress was very subtly observing her surroundings. She tried to keep her head down but did peer every now and then to check the exits, the position of the guards and corners that would allow cover.

Maybe she was with Starfleet after all, one of their more competent spies. He wondered if Malek would notice this as well.

“If that does not make things interesting,” he thought as he turned.

Followed by the two Cardassian soldiers he made his way to the USS Reliant. They amused him. They always kept their distance from him, as if that would save them. Malek said it was a respectful distance. That it was official protocol to honour guests with two guards for their protection. The high powered combat rifles they carried were certainly not for an actual honour guard. Just as their distance was not out of respect but the false hope that they be able to shoot him before he was able to overpower them.

Two other soldiers guarded the entrance to the Reliant at the dock. They told him that they had not been informed whether he was cleared for access to the ship. He considered that the ship was only here for him but instead opted to simply tell them to move. With some reluctance and gazes obviously exchanged with his two shadows, they cleared the way.

With fast steps, he took the path that lead him to the bridge.

“Already inspecting the goods?”

Malek approached him from another corridor. Khan feigned surprise at the other addressing him. He was not sure if the Cardassian bought the act. Nor did he care. It was all part of the game. He had paused to allow him to catch up, then they strolled down the corridors toward the bridge.

“You did not bother taking too many prisoners.”

A simple observation, that seemed to amuse the spy. Khan had to give Malek at least credit for making it ambiguous if the amusement was genuine or part of an act performed by him.

“A few got expelled when the hull ruptured - along with the Captain, I think.”

“They surrendered?” Khan asked.

“Always so trusting ...” the Cardassian sneered. “At least the Klingons have the guts to fight to the death. When the commander surrendered, he had this apparent notion that we were obligated to obey Starfleet conventions.”

Khan did not reply to these comments. Just like Malek and Marcus, he was aware how Starfleet's weakness was their adherence to civilized rules in a universe that was anything but. He had also been wrong, when he had thought that they were not able to break them. Because of that he had lost his crew, he was not about to underestimate any of them again.

“Any notion what mission they were on and how fast they will be missed?”

They had almost reached the bridge, when Khan saw a phaser lying under smoldering parts of the heavily damaged part of the wall. For now he walked on, but he hoped that with everyone focusing on him, they would overlook it. That way he had a chance to recover it later. As he continued to milk Malek for more information, he was simultaneously thinking about a distraction for his guards.

“Commander Terrell had the glorious idea to wipe the ship's databases - so I will have to question him very thoroughly. You are welcome to observe.”

It was hard to resist the urge to try and snap his neck but Cardassian's weapons did not have a stun function, there was no way he could avoid the fire in the narrow corridors. That damn arrogance in Malek's voice, daring to graciously allow him to watch, was making him furious.

“I bet it will be most educational.”

“Oh, yes.”

The satisfaction that swung into that statement was obvious. Malek had bragged about their interrogation tactics before, when he had hinted that they might use them on Khan. It still did not scare or impress him. What he wanted to see right now, was how the Commander would re-act to the situation.

Just because he wanted to end Starfleet did not mean that he was not able to use what was left of the Reliant crew to help him. Before he could give them a role in his plans, he needed to learn about them.

On the bridge, two Cardassian technicians were already working on one of the damaged consoles. The room looked as if it had been directly hit. It was a design flaw in their ships, that whenever the ship was hit really hard, essential parts would break or be smashed by elements from the ceiling. A weakness he had managed to avoid with the design for the Vengeance. Not that it had done him any good.

As Khan assessed the damage, Malek brushed off the captain's chair and sat down, observing the surroundings.

“That should accelerate the time frame”, the spy eventually stated. Leaning forward he continued. “It would be a shame if you died before we are able to execute the plan.”

“Indeed, it would be.”

Khan denied the Cardassian a genuine reaction. It was one of those provocations that the other used constantly. The pretence of friendly concern when it was obvious to everyone but the most gullible person that he actually meant the opposite. A not so hidden way of saying, you will not live to see the fruits of your work.

But if Malek thought so, he was mistaken. Even if the virus would eventually kill Khan, he would make sure that none of them would be there to celebrate. With that thought in mind, he turned his attention back to work.


	3. Surveillance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before attending the interrogation of Commander Terrell, Khan needs to take care of something else ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Version 1.1 - Beta-Read by AlessNox

It was a few hours after the arrival of the Reliant, when Malek sent someone to inform Khan that the interrogation was about to begin. Looking at his two shadows, he slowly rose from his crouching position near one of the panels in the engine room. After having spent the time instructing the technicians about the transfer procedure and deciding which components were usable, some distraction was welcome.

The Cardassians were efficient and able to keep up with his strict schedule. They did not complain about being pushed. That did not mean Khan enjoyed having to micromanage the progress. Revenge was all there was left, but he often felt tired; not physically as the virus did not affect him that much at this point. Mundane tasks, tiresome discussions and waiting was fuelling his anger and at the same time it was just testimony to the horrible reality of his situation. It would have certainly been better for him and everyone else involved if he had not been awakened again.

“It took Malek long enough”, he told the messenger.

“He is expecting you.”

Khan gave an annoyed look at the Cardassian, who stepped back despite being well out of reach.

There were some loose ends to tie up. He left some more instructions for the technicians. Upgrading the timetable which was now at least advanced by two weeks. His own secret plans were already further along. He thought about the device on the Cardassian ship. Later tonight he would have to see how successful that had turned out.

Hidden parts salvaged from the modules and consoles were in his sleeve and pockets. He needed to do something about that before he could indulge in some distraction. Unlike the soldiers the messenger followed him closely. Having the audacity to point out that Malek would not like waiting. He went even so far as stepping in his way as he headed down to his quarters.

“That would be down that corridor”, the messenger said.

“This would be the moment for you to go and tell Malek, I be there shortly.”

Usually, Malek's lackeys were smart enough to back off when his annoyance was that transparent in his voice. 

“I have orders to accompany you”, he said still standing in his way.

Resorting to a language the other probably understood better, Khan grabbed his head and smashed it against the wall. The blow was powerful enough to crack a human skull, he might survive it or not. Malek would not care. Two guards certainly did not, they knew better than to bother him without a direct order. The urge to go up against Malek and his lackeys with their not so subtle attempts at ordering him around was always strong. Most of the time he did not push back. As long as he played their game, it gave him enough freedom to work on his back up plan.

This time he needed to push back. He had to hide the chip-set and the connectors he had filched from various consoles. Especially before seeing Malek, he was bound to notice them. Being that annoying, the messenger might have dared to follow him in his quarters - now he could enter undisturbed with his guards taking position outside.

For what was essentially a prison cell, it was not a bad accommodation. More spacious than the one given to him by Section 31 but with the added annoyance that almost every corner was under constant camera surveillance. Rigging a device, it had not been difficult for him to access the security system. Afterwards he had figured out which were the dead areas not caught on camera. This way Khan was able to work on his special projects in plain sight. In case he really needed to hide anything, he had also found a solution.

The main room was dominated by a desk. The design was that of two broad crescent shaped halves attached a bit offset against each others. One side was where he did assemble smaller parts for his construction. On the other side he had placed a pad which he used to list mundane details about the mission as well as some of his medical data. It was not that he needed to note down details, his memory was quite excellent. It was a smoke screen. He had made various short recordings of him entering and reviewing data.

Whenever he needed a few unobserved minutes, he took a certain position leaning over the pad. For this scenario it was beneficial that the Cardassian had provided him with an identical set of clothing. For him it was easy to recall the exact position. He took thirty seconds to enter some data, then he started the recording at the right moment.

Now he had almost two minutes to store the parts into his hiding place. He couldn't risk having them at his work place when he was blocking them from the cameras but for now he needed to store them out of sight. Otherwise someone reviewing the tapes might notice them. Khan was sure that Malek had his own engineers assessing Khan's work.

It took him exactly eighty seconds, then he was back entering notes into the pad. It worked perfectly, even if the footage was observed carefully, the change would be flawless. No one would notice the transition. His hiding place had withstood several inspections that had been performed in his absence. Malek seemed to be content with what Khan had left for him to find in other places.

Once the cameras were back to filming, he waited a bit before abandoning the pad. To make up another reason for his need to come here first, he decided on a change of clothes. Pulling off his shirt he walked over to the bedroom, which was not an entirely independent room. An empty shelf functioned as a divider from most of the main room. As he passed the bed, he threw the shirt on it and went into the bathroom.

After freshening up a bit, he took another fresh shirt from his supply of identical black clothes. Khan left his quarters, strolling past the body of the messenger to finally see what Malek was boasting about all this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more to come soon ... I think I am getting better at finding Khan's voice ...


	4. Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Khan gets a live-show of Cardassian interrogation techniques, when Malek questions Com. Terrell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not beta-read, hope it is still readable. 
> 
> Warnings for **torture** (nothing too graphic though, inspired by the TNG interrogation of Picard).  
>  Trigger warning for rape (not exactly happening - but I think the situation might be triggering - so better safe than sorry).

Khan had seldom been to the actual prison part of the station. He knew that it provoked Malek who did not want him close to where the prisoners were kept. Especially not near the ore processing factory which used them as workers. Khan did not need to walk these corridors to know how to reach vulnerable spots or to be aware which prisoners he would be able to use. He had access to the surveillance system. 

The Cardassian sometimes seemed to forget that their ally was not just a nearly unstoppable physical force but also a master tactician. It took him a few weeks before he was able to understand the programming language used by the Cardassians. He also learned the most common dialect to give the occasional orders to the guards. Most of the scientist working with him spoke the Federation standard language.

The interrogation chamber had two guards posted at the door, whom Khan told that he was expected. As always he spoke crudely to hide how well he had already learnt their language.

Once he stepped inside the room, there were more. The scenario he found surprised him. Having heard comments about how sophisticated and advanced Cardassian tactics were Khan did not expect to find two naked Starfleet officers kneeling on the floor with a guard standing behind each of them.

Three more guards stood to the left of Malek, who was leaning against a huge desk. The commander looked defiantly at the Cardassian in charge, while the female officer, he believed she was a Lt. looked to the floor. Over both their collar bones, a fresh but closed cut indicated that some type of surgical procedure had been performed on them. The soldiers behind them held their cuffed arms behind their heads. The purpose being exposing them even more to the spectators. 

Khan was not disputing that whatever Malek was doing was not effective. The commander was clearly shaken. The way his body was slightly turned towards the Lieutenant indicated that he very much suffered from not being able to protect her and not so much about being naked. What bothered him was that this was nothing new or special. Tactics like these had been used on Earth since before he was born. Khan would rather describe it as inelegant and unsophisticated.  
“Ah, Khan so nice of you to join us.”

Prepared to be underwhelmed further, Khan noticed that the moment his name was mentioned, the commander looked in his direction. The expression on his face could not be mistaken for anything but recognition. He had not counted on that. Before his plan was so cruelly altered by the murder of his crew, Kirk and his cohorts had been the only ones to know his true identity. Since Starfleet had not bothered with a trial, he had always assumed his involvement - if not more of what happened - had been swept under the carpet.

“I see, that I did not miss anything important.”

Moving so he could observe Malek and the prisoners, he noticed that Commander now looked at him with the same anger and disdain he had previously bestowed upon Malek. It made him curious to find out what story Starfleet had spun on the incidents. With the right incentive he would make Malek ask that question during the next days.

“Not really, just the boring pre-face. Commander Terrell, here gave his name and serial-number and so did Lt. MacGyver here.”

Picking up a device from the desk that looked like a small remote-control, the Cardassian turned to his prisoners with a big smile on his face.  
“I was just about to demonstrate to the Commander what will happen if he refuses to cooperate.”

The moment, Malek pressed on one of the buttons, Lt. MacGyver started to scream in pain. Close to her scar, a red light flashed from under her skin. As was to be expected, the Commander began protesting.

“Stop this, damn it - if you must torture someone - I am the commanding officer.”

For just a tiny second, Khan was able to sympathize with Terrell. Not being able to protect one's crew was worse than any physical pain. Then, he recalled that it was Starfleet who had taken his crew - his family - away from him. All he could think about was how much he longed for Spock to feel this agony.

“Commander - you still don't get it!”

The Cardassian enunciated with a loud voice against the lieutenant's agonized yells. When he finally removed his finger from the button, the woman's body slacked. Heavily panting she filled the room with sobs, that were just as disturbing as her screams. Terrell was clearly horrified beyond measure.

Once the noise level had dropped, Malek went on to educate Terrell. He spoke in the same patronizing tone that Khan had learned to loathe.

“I make the rules, I tell you what to say and when to speak. If not ...”

MacGyver started to scream again. Khan could see Terrell opening his mouth to protest and then biting his lips to shut up. He had to give it to the commander: Terrell was smart enough to realise that any further protest would just have prolonged the suffering of his lieutenant. Not all humans were capable of such rationality under extreme emotional duress.

Malek would get what he wanted from the commander: information and entertainment. Khan realised that he was not getting anything out of this, except maybe what little useful information was going to be gathered. He had counted on seeing these Starfleet officers suffer to bring him some sort of satisfaction. Yet, he still felt empty and unfulfilled. The knowledge of him failing his own crew pained him even worse now as he was not able to push it aside in light of this little sorry spectacle. 

His only consolation was that he was in control of his body language. He hated for Malek to see what effect this scene had on him. At least, he knew that no matter what might happen, Malek and his petty methods were no match for his resolve. If this was the height of his abilities, it was more than lacking. If he found the time, he could show him how much better he was at this.

“So Commander, tell me what were you doing in Cardassian space?”

“We were nowhere near Cardassian space!”

Making an annoyed face Malek moved two fingers and both officers started to scream. Then it stopped and the two caught their breath, still shaking from the intensity of the pain. Terrell did take his first round well under the circumstances. His lieutenant was getting more defiant. Malek was in a bragging mood and paid more attention to Khan.

“These things are such a nice invention.”

He held up the device. It certainly was a lot cleaner than more traditional methods of inflicting pain. That was the only aspect so far that bordered on sophistication. Nonetheless, this was not the time to start an argument.

“Very practical”, Khan replied.

As the two officers tried to regain some measure of self-control over their shaking bodies, Malek explained how the implants worked. Going on in pointing out the obvious; like, how much cleaner it was, with less cutting and burning but just as much pain. That with less actual damage to the body, the subjects could suffer for that much longer. 

Out of the sudden, he turned and got back to talking to the commander.

“We recently expanded into the Ketzel System,” Malek eventually told the Commander. “You really need to keep up with events. So tell me what were you doing there?”

With one last look at his lieutenant, Terrell turned to answer the question.

“It was a routine surveillance mission ...”

“Don't tell him anything”, MacGyver interrupted.

With a bored expression Malek pressed the button that sent a new wave of excruciating pain through Terrell's body. Pressing her lips together, Lt. MacGyver shot a loathing look at the Cardassian. Khan wondered that if she realised as well that for Malek the information gathering part of this interrogation was secondary.

 

Taking way too much time, Malek went back and forth with his little gimmick. But the two showed a stubbornness that only grew with the amount of pain they received. It certainly put a damper on Malek's enjoyment of the situation. That part, Khan enjoyed very much.

Eventually, it dawned upon the Cardassian, that if he wanted to show off his ability to extract information, he needed to change his tactic. His self-proclaimed elegant method was brushed aside by ordering his men to force Lt. MacGyver to the floor. It was certainly not the first time Malek had resorted to this tactic. Without further instructions on the how, the woman was held with her arms pinned down by one soldier and her ankles each by two others. The last of the watchers to Malek's side approached her slowly.

“You can not be serious!” Terrell yelled in protest.

“I believe, the Lt. has expressed multiple times, that she can take this.”

“You sick piece ...”

The commander's insults were interrupted by a brief wave of pain rushing through his nervous system. Malek then told him that he would only order his men to stop, once Terrell had answered his question. Looking down at his officer struggling helplessly against the men holding her down with one of them letting his fingers wander up her legs, the commander finally caved.

In concise words. Terrell revealed that the Reliant had been charting the Vermion System. During that mission they were informed about a plague occurring in the neighbouring Ketzel system. Rumours had it that a Starfleet doctor was helping out the pre-warp civilization. Upon arrival, it was quickly established that while not a member of Starfleet, the doctor was a human and thus they removed her from the planet intending to return her to Federation space.

There was no doubt, that Terrell was talking about the woman in the alien dress. If he told the truth that might offer some interesting possibilities. There was a strange irony to Starfleet deciding to essentially arrest the doctor for providing humanitarian aid. Plagues were nasty occurrences that could wipe out entire populations. They rather have thousands die than give them access to superior medicine. All as to not interfere with the growth of their culture which might as well end due to death and a shift in society to an extreme, as it often happened after disasters. Yet, if he with a clear purpose killed thousands for the benefit of hundred thousands, that made him the criminal. Morality was such a feeble concept in his eyes.

After calling of his men, Malek seemed to agree with him as he taunted Terrell by describing the situation on the planet. Which added another layer of hypocrisy to the situation. Someone perfectly capable of stopping the plague, withholding the help to force the population in submission, lecturing someone for putting an end to the populations best chance to get a cure. 

“I probably should thank you for stopping her though,” Malek grinned. “Tell me, was she close?”

Seeing how the Cardassian looked at the soldier who had just been abusing Lt. MacGyver, Terrell sighed and answered the question.

“Might hav been, our doctor was very impressed by her efforts and knowledge. Still, she has no formal degree from the Federation and her interference violated the Prime Directive.”

“She obviously has the capabilities and she must have gotten the knowledge and basic training from somewhere.”

Malek clearly wanted to know more about her and for once Khan listened with great interest. He wondered if there was more to them taking her away from the planet.

“Even if her intentions are good, she is incredibly young, she should not be treating patients without proper guidance or rules.” 

Terrell defended Starfleet's position, yet one could not deny that he seemed less than thrilled about leaving a dying population behind. Khan was sure that the doctor felt even more strongly about being dragged away from her efforts to end up a captive on a Cardassian space-station.


	5. The Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the possibility ahead that he can use the doctor the Reliant picked up, Khan decides to seize the opportunity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not beta-read ...

Once Malek had satisfied his curiosity about the Reliant's unwilling passenger, he began directing his questions to more detailed oriented facets of the mission. While Khan was interested in reading about the end results, he found the process somewhat boring and distasteful.

At this moment, Khan wanted something else. It vexed him that the Cardassian was in his way. He would have to think of a way to trick the other into giving him access to the doctor. As long as their alliance was still on the table, that would be possible. Although, he considered waiting till his plans had reached the point where he would be able to take over, he decided against it.

If the doctor was indeed not with Starfleet, he could use her. How useful she would be, that he would have to determine. But if she was indeed someone not affiliated with either of his enemies, he wanted to turn her to this side. If not he could always kill her later. Having a young, vulnerable doctor to mould to his liking was appealing. So far he had not bothered with securing one for later on. Even if the doctor from the Reliant had been among the prisoners, his cooperation would have been cumbersome to acquire. This was an opportunity Khan needed to pursue.

He stepped over to Malek, who had sat down in the huge leather chair behind his desk. Khan heard the guards grabbing their rifles tighter as he came closer to their leader.

“Leave the doctor to me. I can use her. Whatever information you need from her - I can provide, easily.”

Malek leaned closer. “I bet you can. Why should I have all the fun?”

There was a pleased look on the Cardassian's face as he looked over the reports on his desk. The lack of discussion over the matter alarmed Khan. He had anticipated a wide range of Malek's usual antics. Instead he was overly amicable and helpful.

“Ah, she is in the med bay - about to receive her implant. You are welcome to have her.”

Khan turned, guessing that the Cardassian was only so charitable now, because he planned on taking her away later on. Which was immediately confirmed by Malek adding something the moment he had taken a few steps away from him.

“For now.”

The one thought on Khan's mind as he strode away from the interrogation room was that he would not kill Malek as fast as he had Admiral Marcus.

 

Calmed somewhat by the prospects of a proper revenge to come and getting closer to the med-bay, his thoughts wrapped himself around the time he had woken up there. His rage had been even more intense then. Despite the years that had passed - for him it had just been moments since the loss of his crew. That first attempt to make Starfleet pay by literally bringing his Vengeance down on their headquarters. That had not been and would never be enough.

Ever since he had been woken up by Admiral Marcus it was like rage was slowly consuming him. Not being able to do anything, month and month under the Admiral's boot, struggling just to get the information he needed to formulate a plan. Then when he had, there was this uncertainty, that maybe Marcus would not sent the torpedoes or that he would remove and kill his crew beforehand. It was a terrible risk he had to take - but there had been no other way. The situation now was different. Yet, it felt even worse, now that the was nothing left but revenge.

Composing himself, he headed into the main area of the medical complex. Several beds for treatment were spread over three areas of the room, the fourth area was occupied by an operating room. Huge glass windows allowed for everyone to see what was going on inside. A crewman from the Reliant was struggling against the metal braces holding him down to the operating table. The red shirt was getting his implant.

The doctor was forced to watch the procedure along with another female Starfleet lieutenant and two crewmen. Six Cardassian guards pointed their weapons at the small group and kept encouraging them with jabs to keep watching. As he approached, the guards pulled away from the prisoners. Everyone save the doctors were now looking at him. The Cardassian medics continued the procedure with a detached routine and the human doctor kept watching them.

“I am here for her,” he announced.

Pointing at the doctor caused the guards to grab their rifles tighter. He found it amusing that everyone was alarmed with the exception of the very person who had a reason to be concerned about him showing up. At least, it revealed that the lieutenant also recognized him. Although the look when she saw that the doctor was still staring at the procedure was even more entertaining.

The Cardassians were conflicted by the situation. Khan's intent was obvious to them: he wanted to take an unprocessed prisoner with him. Something that was not in compliance with their orders. They wanted to object. They were just deciding who was daring to say it out loud. Naturally, none of them felt particularly compelled to be the person to speak out against him. So they kept looking at each other waiting for someone to gather enough courage.

While they silently debated, Khan took the moment to take a closer look at the doctor. Her dress was very -and most likely purposefully- distracting. It almost made him overlook how she had been evaluating her surroundings. The loose cut also hit her physique, not that he needed to worry about hidden strength. One thing became obvious right away: Terrell had been right about her being young. Something about how she kept studying the procedure told him she might know what she was doing. 

“We are under orders to ..”, one of the guards eventually said.

“And now, I am ordering you to hand her over. Think hard before you waste mine and Malek's time by checking in with him.”

While the guards made up their minds, he took in a few more facts about her. Her long, dark brown hair hid most of her profile. Still, the way she pressed her lips together and clenched her jaw, revealed that she was unsettled regardless. Khan noticed how her fingers tipped onto her chest. It was not a nervous gesture. The young doctor was tracing the exact spot where the torture device was implanted. She made herself watch to know how to remove the implement. 

That alone intrigued him even more. When under duress most ordinary people lost whatever wits they had. Then there were rare people, whose minds remained focused even when their instincts told them to panic. Even though they would never be his equals Khan could respect them. They made the best adherents, provided one was able to give them the right incentive to follow. Time would tell if the doctor was indeed one of them.

“Doctor - let's go!”

Taking her time, the woman in the alien dress turned around. An almost stoic expression had formed on her face. She turned around again, this time to look at the other woman and the crewmen. He was about to tell her to move faster, when he realised that she was not trying to defy him by stalling. The doctor moved slow to hide the insecurity in her steps, placing one foot in front of the other with a strained precision.

Without saying anything, she walked past him. Although he refrained from making physical contact, he guided her with a few gestures. Before leaving the med-bay, he looked back the lieutenant who stared at him with obvious disapproval on her face. There was nothing she could do and the rifles pointed at her, made her think twice about useless protesting.

The question now was how to proceed. His usual more direct approach would only cause Malek to interfere sooner rather than later. Finding the answers he needed by remaining as detached as possible was not a difficult task for someone of his superior intellect. He was sure that these games made the Cardassian feel particularly clever. For him it was just a waste of time. But in the year he had been forced to work for Marcus he had learned to bide his time. He had never had a problem to remain detached.

Khan was sure that Malek had agreed so fast in the hope that he would warm up to the doctor. Which also hinted at her being the genuine article: maybe a modern day version of the doctors without borders organisation of his time. He smiled at the idea. Whatever was going on with her, first he needed to find out how competent she really was. At the same time, he would examine where her loyalties lay. No matter how closely Malek watched the tapes, Khan would not give him any indication if the doctor was indeed useful to him. After all, once he was in charge, he would easily be able to secure her loyalty.


	6. Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Khan guides the doctor to his quarters to ask her some questions and draws more conclusions from her behaviour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not beta-read. Edited several times and proofed it, so I hope it is readable.

On their way to his quarters, Khan began studying the doctor. A less skilled observer might think she was calm and unaffected. Despite her upright posture Khan saw the tension in her arms and shoulders. How her head was stiffly turning while she surveyed the corridors. That she swallowed a little too hard every now and then. Also, the nervousness in her steps as he set a faster pace. It was subtle but there.

Not to mention how she only stole a few side glances at him and then tried to act as if she was not. She must be curious what was going to happen to her and why he was escorting her away from the med-bay. Khan obviously had saved her from the procedure but she was not willing to trust him just because. He liked that about her. A simple minded person would immediately cling to the vague hope that they were saved. As she remained suspicious, it only hinted at the possibility that she might prove useful in the long run.

By the time they reached the corridor leading to his quarters, he had also contemplated the possibility that she was a spy at length. Her continuing observations, her somewhat more realistic approach to the situation and how she purposefully misdirected attention from what she was actually doing, hinted at the possibility. The question was, whom she might be working for. If she was with Starfleet, her assessing the layout and guards made sense. If she worked for Malek, that would only draw suspicion and the Cardassian would know that. At the same time, if she was a spy, she would be better trained to handle this situation and not give away so much in terms of body language. If she was able to fake it, it would make more sense to mimic a less confident person. While Khan was not ruling out that she was with Starfleet or Malek, he deemed that to be a much less likely option. At any rate, he would figure out her secrets soon enough.

Opening the door to this quarters, he noticed how she hesitated and peered down the corridor almost as if thinking about running. When his hand moved towards her shoulder, the doctor walked inside to avoid the touch. As she stood there, the doctor seemed even more lost to him. Trying very hard to project calmness, she focused on the furniture in the main room.

Khan entertained the idea to grab her arm and trap her against the nearest wall. That would make this a lot easier for him. Actually, it would make it easier for both of them. He was sure she would appreciate a clear outline of terms much more than these games. If he was able to guarantee it, he would tell her the only way out of this mess was to do his biding. The exact phrasing would depending upon her reaction to him trapping her. Brutal and threatening if she was defiant or luring and promising if she showed signs of submissions.

That straightforward approach was no good, as long as Malek was going to use it as an excuse to snatch the doctor away. Neither was wondering if the doctor might be persuaded by physical means. The only good thing was, that this hands-on approach would still work once Khan had disposed the Cardassians.

His reminded himself that he first and foremost needed to figure out how competent she was. He doubted that she would be experienced and knowledgeable enough to find a cure for the virus. His concern was treatment of the symptoms. If the side-effects continually worsened, she might be able to extend his time far enough to not only take Earth and New Vulcan from Spock - but the crew of the Enterprise as well. That was something to look forward to.

 

Khan let her have a moment, not out of kindness but to observe and plan his strategy. If not for the tension in her shoulders her posture might have successfully mimicked confidence. Usually, people in her situation re-acted in two ways. Either aggressively demanding answers or by panicking. Some reactions were more extreme than others. Even as the doctor finally turned, she remained silent.

The expression on her face would put a poker player to shame. It was that withdrawn reaction which challenged him even more than any open defiance might have. Khan wanted to rattle her and see how quickly she would lose her composure. His imagination lend itself to others ideas once he thought about forcing her to kneel as an alternate scenario to demonstrate why she was better off working for him.

Knowing he needed another strategy, he pushed the unhelpful images out of his head and addressed the doctor.

“Why don't you sit down?”

Khan put the question with a tone that made it obvious it was an order. The woman took two steps and then positioned herself on the two-seater in a manner that blocked both seats. He had wanted to take a chair anyway. The ideas was to position himself opposite of her. So he grabbed and put the backrest towards her, before sitting down.

“What is your name?”

“Jagoda,” she began, “Lea Jagoda.”

“No, Dr.?”

Of course, he already knew that she had no official title. Commander Terrell had mentioned that she had admitted as much. What Khan did not know was how she felt about her lack of credentials. 

“On most planets the people don't care about diplomas and documents, they just glad someone is there to treat them.”

The way her tone changed told him not only how little regard she had for credentials but that what she did meant something to her.

“From what the Commander mentioned, it was not your competence Starfleet had a problem with.”

“No, their problem is that they value rules more than life.”

A bitter tone swung in her voice, he also had the feeling there was more she liked to say on the matter but choose not to. Leaning forward, he thought that maybe if he offered her a little bit more incentive, she might elaborate on that.

“Yes, their Prime Directive.”

“Theirs? You are not with Starfleet then?”

“Obviously.”

Of course, he knew what she had meant. While on earth not everyone was with Starfleet, the same applied only to a few humans who travelled the stars. Her assumption must have been that he was a disgruntled former Starfleet officer who had defected. Khan got the distinct feeling that she at the very least used to be Starfleet.

“Should I know who you are?”

“Why would you ask that?”

“The way Lt. Verlaine looked at you, for once.”

Doubtlessly, she was referring to the other officer in the med-bay. Khan made a mental note putting the name with the face. Given the chance, he wanted to find out more about what information Starfleet had given out along with his name and photo. Were they aware that he was missing? Why did not none of the regular crewman showed the same sign of recognition?

For his plans it might not prove to be of much consequence either way but he rather not overlook anything. There was this curiosity what these officers had been told. Certainly not the whole truth. Which was a shame as he had always wanted to know why he had been their only chance to save Kirk.

Khan wanted to see what kind of charges Starfleet had brought up against him. He knew what he had done and might have been held accountable for in trial. For some reason that had never seemed enough. When Marcus confronted him with all the charges that had been brought up against him and his crew, it had surprised him. It was almost flattering in the exaggerations, but often lacking in an understanding of his motivation. That was certainly excusable in case of the dull minded and warmongering people of his age. It would have been foolish to expect them to understand his goals.

The same obviously applied to the people of the 23rd century. Somehow he had expected a bit more. For a member of a supposedly advanced alien race, Spock had proven to be just as narrow-minded in that regard. Back then he had not even bothered correcting them. In hindsight, he wondered if maybe Spock had convinced himself that Khan and his crew were some sort of ethnic cleansers to make it easier for him to murder them all. 

That was far from the truth, mass-genocide had not been on his agenda at all. The ironic part was of course that thanks to Spock, that fiction had become a reality. Not the part where he killed people because they were inferior. He killed because people were in the way or like in this case to make a point.


	7. Blood Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Khan continues questioning the doctor and also shares information concerning the virus he was infected with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Many thanks to stelesandwands for helping me with a problematic part of this chapter.

“My name is Khan.”

At the moment, it was just a name to her. That was to be expected if she really was out of contact with events concerning the Federation. While it was strange to not be recognized any more, he primarily saw the advantage in this. Unaware of who he was or even what he had done, Khan would be able to shape her perception of him.

“So, have you done anything that I should now about?” Lea said and added: “In the past ... decade?”

“Maybe I tell you more about it in due time”, he replied and leaned back.

He sensed her disappointment at the answer. He wondered if she truly has been a decade out of touch or if that was just an act. Considering she was so young, a decade away from Federation space seemed like an awful long time. If she really faked all of this, then she was certainly the most brilliant actress he had ever seen. At this point, he was far more inclined to believe that she was indeed what she seemed to be.

“Well, the real question is anyway, what am I doing here?”

A surprisingly straightforward question, he smiled at her. A change of strategy on her part might indicate that she had arrived at her own conclusions. There was very little to read for either of them. He was sure that he hid his body language better than she was able to. What gave her more insight was the fact that he had played the active role so far.

Instead of saying anything, he stood up fetching his pad from the table. Realizing how nervous he made her by towering over her, he remained standing. Opening a specific file, he handed the pad over to her.

“Tell me what you think it is.”

Looking up at him, she took the pad and studied it. As she studied the data and scrolled through it carefully, he saw the confusion. At first, he thought it was because she was not able to identify it.

“Red blood cells. There are more similarities than differences to human blood cells. The most notable probably that they store almost triple the amount of oxygen...”

As it turned out, her confusion stemmed from the fact how easy the task was for her. From her tone he might as well have put an orange in front of her and asked her what type of fruit it was. The amazing thing was, that what he had shown her was not the digitalized sample but the breakdown of components. Only someone with highly advanced medical knowledge would have been able to identify this so precisely. A test he had expected her to fail. At best he had hoped that she would be vaguely familiar with the analytical approach.

“Very accurate, those blood cells belong to me.”

Khan relished the look she gave him now. She understood the implications.

“So, you are an augment?”

It was more a statement than a question. It also proved his theory that she had ties to Starfleet in her past. While she seemed to lack knowledge of the events of his time, she was certainly aware of the events only a hundred years back.

“One of the originals”, he said. “I spend a long time in cryo-stasis before I was unfortunate enough to run across a Starfleet vessel.”

“What happened?”

Khan took the pad from here and opened more files, but did not give them back right away. He liked where this was going.

“I was awoken by an Admiral whose ambition was far greater than his intellect. He thought he could use me to build him weapons. Weapons that would make him the hero in the coming war with the Klingons.”

He left out the part where his crew was involved. It was better not to make her aware of the revenge he sought for their deaths.

“Now, you are doing the same for the Cardassians.”

Unsure what exactly had revealed it, the doctor had seen through his current dilemma. Unless of course, she knew because she was working for Malek. He looked over to the table with the medical tricorder. It gave him an idea.

“This is a more recent blood sample.”

While the doctor examined the new data files, this time with the complete analysis and digital scans, he retrieved the tricorder with two vials for taking blood samples.

“The amount of oxygen stored in your blood cells has gone down by almost 20%.”

He nodded and she went on. “When was the other one taken?”

“About five weeks ago.”

“That is unusual, any idea what caused this?”

“The more advanced scanners in the med-bay did reveal a virus. It's slow acting, specifically engineered to bypass my immune-system.”

“Engineered by whom?”

That was indeed the question. The time needed to create a virus that was having such unique custom-tailored properties would be measured in month. The resources needed would also have to be substantial. It would also require access to his blood. Which made it unlikely that Malek was behind the virus.

While Khan doubted that the grumpy doctor from the enterprise was involved with the creation of the virus, McCoy had taken an interest in his blood. After Spock had beaten him unconscious he had taken even more. Khan had not regained full consciousness before being frozen once more. From bits and pieces, whenever he had come back to the surface of consciousness, it was obvious that they had kept him alive for that purpose. He had been awake long enough for his injuries to heal.

At any rate, Khan was convinced that enough of his blood had been available and that there had been sufficient time for someone else to get hold of it.  
“I am not sure, maybe a precaution by Starfleet in case someone woke me up again.”

She did not believe that or maybe did not want to.

“You think, Starfleet is all about sticking to their rules,” Khan taunted her. “But there are always those ready to break them at their own convenience.”  
That she seemed to accept. “You must know, that finding a cure for ...”

“I don't expect you to find a cure, just ways to treat the symptoms.”

The doctor nodded, her body relaxed a bit more but the tension was still there. Normally, he expected some demands for keeping her safe in return but she was too smart for that. Aware of his position with the Cardassians she knew that he could not guarantee her safety. Once things changed she was still in no position to argue. He was not in the habit of making deals, he made demands. People either submitted to his rule or they got crushed if they stood in his way.

“There is something else, I need first.”

He got one of the vials ready to draw blood.

“You want me to take another blood sample?” she asked.

“Not from me.”

Up until now, the doctor had gotten herself under control. She had only given him the subtlest hint via her body language, what he know saw was open fear. The poker face evaporated and she was openly mortified. Lea suddenly reminded him of animal caught in a trap.

“What for?”

Khan felt disappointed. He had liked the notion that she was indeed a human more clever than average. It seemed his worries that Malek had sent him a spy were right after all. Whatever acting talent the doctor possessed, she was not clever but well briefed. If she really was a Cardassian, the work done by the surgeons was far more commendable than the instructions given to her. It would have been much smarter to have let her act in a more inconspicuous kind of way.

“I am just making sure you are human.”

He sat down next to her, grabbing her wrist. He felt her pulse rushing, her body temperature seemed to indicate she was human.

“What if I am not?”

“Then, I will kill you and tell Malek, that his spies are inadequate and obvious.”

Just as he wondered if he should even bother with a blood sample, her expression turned to genuine confusion. He jabbed the hypo-syringe in her arm. The vial filled with bright red blood.

“I am not a spy.”

Her statement was made with a sincerity that seemed to belie her initial panic.

“Let's see what you are hiding.”

Not letting go of her arm, he inserted the vial with the blood into the scanner. Then he simply leaned back as it ran the analysis. Lea was more tense than ever. While he waited, he began moving his hand along her arm. He wasn't really aware of it. Her skin was smooth and is hand glided over it and under her sleeve. He only stopped when he felt a scar beginning under her elbow. This was not the way to handle the situation. Khan removed his hand, the moment the scanner had finished the analysis. He needed to watch out, this had been convenient and pleasant. Khan knew acting as if he owned her was precisely what Malek expected from him.

What made it even more taxing was the fact that he had felt relaxing as his hand trailed over her warm skin. A nonsensical thought, considering the threat he'd given just a few moments before. Khan stood up to transfer the data to his pad. He remained standing as he started by looking at her blood. It did not look Cardassian at all. It appeared human at first glance. The irregularities caught his eye soon enough. Her blood was by all means closer to that of ordinary humans than his own, there was something about it. So Khan took a look at her genetic make-up.

At first he was not sure what to make of it. Her genetic code was slightly different from an ordinary human but it was not a product of genetic manipulation either. It was alien DNA, one that resembled human DNA on first glance. Studying what he saw for a moment, he began to realize not only was the DNA astoundingly similar, it was also only partially non-human.

“Seems, you are part alien.”

This cast an entirely different light on the situation. The spy theory looked less likely again. Whatever her story was, something about finding out this secret bothered her. Even now, she sat there, arms by her side, hands wrung tightly on her lap and her eyes looking down. Was she embarrassed by her alien heritage?

“DNA does not lie”, she stated flatly.

“What species?”

Shrugging Lea looked up. He realised it was desperation and not embarrassment that plagued her. She did not even need to hear her reply any more, it was obvious to him that she did not knew the answer.

“I wish I knew.”

That explained what she was doing so far away from Federation space. She wanted to know who she was, where she came from. Khan smiled thinking about how perfect that was. As her search was obviously not successful so far, it might be just the right time to step in and give her a new purpose: one that aligned with his own.

Taking a deep breath, Lea rose and turned to him.

“So where does that leave us?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to let me know what you think - feedback of all kinds is appreciated.


	8. Interruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malek comes by to see how Khan and the doctor get along ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to stelesandwands for betaing this chapter for me.

“It means you are now working for me.”

Taken everything he had observed and discovered into account, Khan was reasonably sure that she was what she claimed to be. Apart from any other possible secrets she could be keeping, he had a feeling those were not related to any spy activities. It was obvious that she was seeking something and had gotten lost on the way. Whether she had been outcast or just felt she had been - she was utterly alone.

Walking about other planets, she probably had been able to distract herself from the fact that she had no one. Now, she was trapped and once he had taken over, she would know that he was the only person she could turn to. He had the feeling that he would not even need to do much convincing.

Khan held out the medical scanner to her, with a soft nod, she took it.

“Okay,” Dr. Jagoda said. “I will need a few things, there is only so much I can do with one medical scanner. Apart from the equipment, I require as much as pre-exposure medical data, documentation of the progression and lastly, I need to to a full check-up.”

Slipping into her role as a physician, he could literally see her becoming more comfortable. Then there was of course the fact hat his reaction to her alien heritage had been different from what she had expected. He made a note that this was one important aspect he really needed to investigate. Apart from that her ability to cope with this situation had so far been above average. Time would tell how resilient she really was. Khan had the feeling before this was over, her resolve and composure will have been thoroughly tested. Not just by him but also by Malek.

As far the Cardassian was concerned, he began to see what he was aiming at. Khan did not like it if things were taken from him, especially useful ones. Malek was certainly just waiting for him to warm up to the doctor. Another problem would be that, if she was as competent in the medical area as she was observant, Malek might snatch her away regardless of how much personal interest he showed for her. While the possibility existed that he could get her back, he just disliked the notion of someone else playing with his things.

“Make a list of everything you need.”

Saying as much, he gave back the pad with all the unlocked data that he had gathered. Lea gladly took it and occupied herself by scanning through the file list.

“There is no data older than two month ago.” He could see she was connecting the information and as she looked up. “So ... before that you were cryo-frozen - again?”

“Yes, I was. Long enough for someone to develop such a specific virus.”

Leaving open the question when and how exactly he was infected with it. Khan assumed it had been a fail-safe trap, in case someone tried to revive him. He shared his thoughts with the doctor who was delightfully detached in theorising about the method used. Of course, Malek had disposed of the cryo-tube or at least said so. Lea found that equally strange, but he stopped her from diving deeper into that line of thought. Khan pretended to point out another file when he stepped behind her and typed in the short message that they were being watched.

Speaking of the devil, the door to his quarters opened and the Cardassian stepped in. It was hard to keep a neutral face, when Khan really wanted to bash the other one's in. Lea's strong reaction to seeing Malek distracted him from the anger he felt. With one arm till around her, standing so close behind her, he felt how she tensed up again. Saw how the hairs on her neck stood up.

“Dr. Jagoda,” Malek began. “It is so nice to finally meet you.”

“Do I know you?” Lea replied.

At that moment, she deleted his message on the pad. For some reason the Cardassian worried her a lot more than the six guards or the procedure she had witnessed. She was more composed than when he had announced the blood test, yet it did not appeared that Lea recognized him. Once he stepped away and saw her face, it seemed more like she was repulsed by Malek's very presence. Not that it took her long to eventually hide that expression.

“No, I don't think we had the pleasure. But I heard, of your noble efforts to find a cure for the plague on Ketzel IV.”

“Really? It seemed like the Cardassians had no interests in curing the plague at all.”

“Nasty, internal politics”, Malek shrugged. “Well, I hope I was not interrupting anything?”

“Not at all”, Khan said.

He maintained a neutral tone, even though what he really felt was the exact opposite of his reply. “The doctor and I were just discussing the basics. Like what equipment she could use.”

It was a good moment to bring that up, since Malek seemed determined to act all nice and helpful for the time being. Khan was not yet sure what the other was playing at but he hoped that Lea saw through this act juts as easily has he had.

“I am sure we can arrange something. After all we do want to find a solution to your dilemma, don't we?”

Malek strolled casually over the room, looking at things and touching instruments at the other side of the table. The idea was of course to show that he could touch things belonging to Khan. Marcus had employed almost the same strategy. Only in this situation, Khan was able to keep an amused smile on his face. Which he did by recalling the satisfying sound Marcus' skull made as he crushed it.

“I actually came to invite the both of you for dinner tonight. Say in two hours?”

“We'll be there.”

“Excellent!” Malek said cheerfully. “I am sure you got things to do, why don't I show the good doctor to her quarters, I am sure she would like to freshen up.”

As he said so, he put his hand on the doctor and began directing her out of the room. Khan successfully fought his instinct to smash the Cardassian into the next wall. There was a time and a place for everything. Thinking about it, he had something better to do anyway and there would be enough time to deal with the doctor. She needed better equipment anyway, to be useful.

“Yes, I've got some work to do anyway.”

Kahn went over to his work station and sat down. Acting as if he had already lost interest, he pulled out another pad from the space under the desk and began concentrating on his work. Or at least he pretended to, it was a few minutes after Malek walked out of the door with the doctor that he reached for a small transmitter among the many implements on the desk.

Ensuring that the pad was blocked from the camera, he hooked it up with an transmitter and finally an amplifier. A few seconds later, the screen on his pad filled with a program he had written. He checked again the camera input, making sure nothing had changed. Taking a deep breath, he finally accessed another subroutine.

There had been no time to test it and Khan felt a bit anxious. More than ever he wanted to push forward the schedule. Malek irked him more with every passing day. This being the worst in the past weeks. Then his hands moved over the touch screen and the program confirmed that the uplink to the Grut'na was functional moments later. 

Malek had wanted access to the Federation communication systems but what he had also done was to give Khan access to theirs. It took Khan an hour to crack the codes but then he was past the security barriers. He copied every piece of classified communication between Malek and his superiors. Then all the instructions the Cardassian had sent out to his underlings.

The next steps would be to use the link with the ship to smuggle a trojan into the stations comm systems. He needed time to sort through all the information. A rough plan formed in his mind, it was more an addition to his overall plan but a certainly a helpful one. It was just as well that he did not need much sleep. With the dinner cutting his time and patience short further, Khan thought about forgoing sleep for this night all together.


	9. Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Khan and Lea have dinner with Malek where pleasant conversation is just a pretence and things turn unpleasant quickly enough when a secret is revealed ....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks to my lovely beta, stelesandwands for helping me with this one.

Satisfied by the latest breakthrough, Khan left to join Malek and the doctor for dinner. It would no doubt be a tedious, infuriating event with the only added benefit that it was a unique opportunity to study Dr. Jagoda. Purposefully late, he was surprised to find only Malek sitting at the table.

There were two additional plates at the rather large table filled with both Cardassian and Earth dishes on hot plates. The last time he had dined here, the second option had been missing. He decided to sit down before making a snide comment about the doctor being late.

“That's probably my fault,” Malek revealed. “I insisted that she get more comfortable and sent someone over to provide her with a more fitting wardrobe.”

“How considerate.”

There was little to say to the constant falsehoods of his host. Khan knew he could expect the doctor would be put in less comfortable clothes. It remained to be seen what Malek meant by more fitting.

“While we eat, my people are bringing the necessary equipment to your quarters, I trust you will keep an eye on her.”

“She won't cause problems, as long as I am handling her.”

Khan was not too happy about the fact that Malek had interjected himself so much into what the doctor was doing. Although it was probably less hassle this way, than if he had asked for the additional medical equipment alone.

Amused the Cardassian helped himself to a glass of Kanar. “Can I offer you some?”

“No.”

“I know, it is an acquired taste.”

Before any more trivialities concerning the Cardassian cuisine could be shared, the doors opened and Dr. Jagoda entered the room. The expression on her face could not be described as anything but sour. Her hair was pinned up, the dark red dress she wore bared most of her shoulders. Khan would not deny that she looked very attractive in that dress. Though if Malek thought that alone would impress him or make a difference to his approach, he was wrong.

“Well, that is much better, isn't it?” Malek said to her and then looked to Khan for affirmation.

“I am not sure I would have picked that colour.”

Lea walked up to the table and sat down doing her best not to lean over. Up and close he saw that she had more than just one scar on her upper arms. There were several cuts. Something that also found Malek's interest. He ran his finger's over her arm.

“I guess that is why you have been hiding in that awful dress.”

“That dress was made for me by the Keysuli - thanking me for saving the son of one of their leaders.”

The offended tone caught Malek off-guard and he drew his hand back from her arm. Khan liked that she was pushing back a little. It would make for a more interesting evening.

“The Keysuli?”

Not having heard of the species, Khan used the opportunity to inject himself into the conversation. It was most likely irrelevant information but he rather heard more about Lea's activities then listen to his host's unimaginative double entendres.

“A highly intelligent species of humanoid amphibians.”

“Located in Romulan space, they provide rare herbs and fruits from under the water to them for, hmm, protection,” she explained, with her wording and pauses telling him that these amphibians probably needed more protection against the Romulans than from them.

“You do get around a lot.”

Khan noticed the smile that slid across her face. It was almost as if she meant to say, that he had no idea. It made him wonder, how long had she been out there. Although the dress slightly worn from use, the quality seemed very high and made him think that the incident was at least a few years in the past.

“Maybe I can offer you a bit of Kanar, doctor?”

She shook her head. “No, thank you - I prefer Romulan Ale.”

“That, I can offer as well.”

Calling one of they soldiers, he ordered him to bring a flask from his stash of Romulan Ale. Khan was not sure whether he liked that development. Alcohol was for weak minded people. While the effects on him were usually neglectable, he was not sure whether her getting drunk might open some unfortunate possibilities.

“Are you trying to get the doctor drunk?”

“Well, what do you think, Dr. Jagoda or may I call you Lea?”

“Lea, is just fine,” she said sounding less than enthusiastic, “I know my limits, I never drink more than I can handle. Besides, if this is really penion ke carf it makes a very solid base for neutralising most of the intoxicating effects of the ale.”

“You know your alien dishes, most would mistake this for - what is the term Pork Crown Roast?”

“As Khan noted, I do get around.”

“Spying for Starfleet?” Malek suddenly asked.

Dr. Jagoda shrugged, “I can say what I want, you would not believe me anyway.”

“But you are from Earth, aren't you?”

“Sure, I was born there.”

This was getting tedious, like everything that came out of Malek's mouth. He must have viewed the tapes, which meant that he was deliberately wasting their time getting information out of her that he already possessed.

“I hope you did not intend to bore us the whole dinner with questions that she is obviously not going to answer truthfully if she were a spy?”

“You have a point - not much reason to pursue this line of questions, why don't we start? I am sure the ale will be delivered shortly.”

With that he began to slip in his role of gallant host. Khan grabbed a plate of the closest dish while observing what the doctor choose. She took a large serving of the aforementioned alien dish, obviously planning on consuming a great deal of ale. One thing was clear, Malek's interest in her was more than just about using her as a pawn against him. While her knowledge about different sectors she had been to was not relevant for his plans, it told him something about her. She had successfully travelled and that meant she was resourceful. Probability made it likely she had encountered difficult situations. Stressful ones judging by the many scars that showed that she was no stranger to being tortured.

Malek steered the conversation to further discussions of cuisine and then art, while he said just enough to give the appearance of participation. When the ale was brought and Khan decided to try it himself. He knew it was forbidden by the Federation and had some sort of status to it. He had overheard some Starfleet officers who bragged about having tasted it. Surprisingly, he liked the taste. It was hard to pin down but the forbidden factor was apparently not all that spoke for Romulan ale.

“It's a very good vintage.”

“Only the best for my guests.”

This time Khan smiled at Malek's comment, because he realized that the doctor was merely humouring him. She was subtle in her intonation. Still, he was sure her opinion was either a straight lie or based on an absence of knowledge. It would not surprise him if the doctor was not very keen on consuming alcohol, either.

After they almost finished their dinner, their mostly meaningless conversation took an unpleasant turn.

“Did Khan explain what we are trying to accomplish here?”

Letting his fork sink, Khan tried to anticipate what Malek was aiming at. Maybe it was because alien minds were sometimes too hard to predict, maybe Malek was just too messed up. Either way, it was often impossible to foresee what agenda the Cardassian was going to push at any given moment.

“It did not seem of relevance for my task.”

“So you are not bothered by the fact that Khan here is going to help us burn your home planet down to a pile of ashes?”

Almost snapping his fork in half, Khan fought to control his anger. He did not even cared why Malek had chosen to disclose this information, it just made him mad that he had spoiled his strategy. As was to be expected her reaction went from disbelief to realizing that Malek meant it literally. Even with her limited historical knowledge, she must realize that he was willing and capable of doing that. He realized what Malek, short sighted and arrogant as he was, had meant to do.

Khan held to the fact that Dr. Jagoda was out of options. Momentarily horrified, she would soon come to realise that what he planned to do made not difference to her situation. So maybe it would not be as easy and smooth an operation to her to work for him but he still would succeed in getting her there. In fact, by putting the truth on the table, it would create an artificial distance between them, that given the current situation would be most beneficial. The longer he thought about it the more Khan enjoyed the fact that Malek had decided to reveal their endgame.

“I left Earth behind - a long time ago,” she finally said.

Cold words but Khan did not doubt for a second that this actually reflected her feelings on the matter. Malek would have insisted upon an answer, so she gave him one. A version she could hind behind knowing that she had no choice but to comply. Just as she knew, that Malek would never let her go after revealing this information to her.

“Due to your disagreements with Starfleet policies I presume?”

Intending to treat the revelations as casually as possibly, he simply continued the conversation. Oddly enough, he had the impression, that the doctor was glad to move on.

“That is one way to put it.”

The doctor returned to her meal. Malek did try to liven up the conversation again but Lea was evasive without ever being openly hostile. It was quite elegant how she was able to doge his infuriating questions. Watching those two talk at each other, told him one thing: whomever she was spying for - if she indeed was - it was not the Cardassians.


	10. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Khan finds out a bit more about the good doctor ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to stelesandwands my wonderful beta, also sorry for taking so long to update, since my little stay at the hospital my mind has been in the gutter and pwp is just more up my alley.

After dinner, Khan had the tainted pleasure to walk Dr. Jagoda to her quarters. Tainted since the guards behind them made any possibilities for some more personal touches null and void. Mundane conversation was not something he cared for at this point. At least by lowering his voice he could keep some of what was said private.

“I hope what Malek told you won't distract you too much from your task.”

With some effort he kept it friendly, he really disliked having to play it this way. Especially after this particularly annoying evening. Khan wanted to treat himself to something. Like pulling those pins out of her hair. But he knew if he went down that road, he would follow it all the way.

Unlike most of his ruling counterparts, who had not survived the Eugenic wars, he was better able to keep his instincts in check. He remembered all too well the last mistakes born out of neglecting that ability: Marcus' quick death, handing back hostages and his misjudgement of Spock.

“If you are wondering whether I am one of those doctors willing to kill a patient”, Lea said and paused when she saw his amused look. “- or let's say willing to try to kill a patient, hoping that might save more lives - I am not. That does not mean, I am not opposed to mass genocide.”

He believed her, maybe it was the ale, the late hour or the fact that she did not wish to hide her emotions. They were there, honest pain at what he was about to do, this defeat about knowing that there was nothing to stop him. Khan regretted that he could not seize this moment of vulnerability.

“Get some rest,” he ordered her.

With a nod, Lea opened the door and walked inside the room provided for her.

 

Back at his quarters, the new equipment had arrived. He double checked for new cameras and other disturbances. They had examined his tools and materials. One look around told him that his important secrets had not been discovered. After examining the equipment, he scanned the room for more listening devices. Only after he was sure that he did not overlooked anything, he pulled out his pad. Instead of working at the table, he decided to make himself comfortable on the bed. His range of movement was not nearly as limited, as the camera angle made it easy to hide what he was looking at. Besides he rather not demonstrate his ability to stay awake for days on end. He wanted them to underestimate him. 

Turning off the lights, he focused on texts upon texts loaded unto this pad. The reports and communication provided the background to everything that Malek had been up to in and around the station. It confirmed a few things about what he had already suspected regarding his arrival on Terrok Tar. There was no doubt, that the special package referred to in a report days before had been woken up again, was him frozen in stasis. Someone on the insight had smuggled his cryotube onto civilian transport ship and the Grut'na had taken the package on board near the border to the Ferengi Alliance. 

The information he had gained proved to be incredible valuable. He had a much better idea, where this base was located. It was obvious that Malek's superiors had not idea that he had more than one ship. While they knew about the Reliant, they had not approved this action. Malek operated with far greater autonomy than Khan had anticipated. He was still accountable to the head of his order. Reports to the government showed that he was merely humouring them. He did it in a non-obvious way but the reports lacked efficiency or care.

It also provided him with more details on the number of prisoners, soldiers and other personnel stationed on board. The ore from the facility was just for use on the starship, with no more transports coming here to pick up the materials. He learned a lot that would be helpful, with more messages yet to be analysed. All the while the master plan in his head was evolving like a tree that grows a new branch with many smaller ones coming out as well. It was good to have several options, last time, his plan had been almost completely linear with very little 'plan B's' to fall back on in case of problems.

There was more information to be uncovered, but after hours of mostly reading with only one break after he faked having fallen asleep while reading the next morning finally came. With that someone rang the door. Which meant it was not Malek nor one of his higher ranking minions.

“I hope, I am not too early.”

Opening the door he was greeted by the doctor. Someone obviously had provided her with plain black clothes and white lab coat she was wearing.

“Not at all,” Khan smiled, “besides we wasted enough time yesterday.”

“I see - the setup was already delivered. Let me have a look at it, then I can being my examination, of the data and you.”

“While you familiarize yourself with your new equipment, I will shower, then you can examine me.”

Nodding several times, Lea went back to looking at the material that was already there. Normally, he would like the fact that she focused so much on her work, instead of walloping about her situation or get into arguments about what he planned to do. It made her seem too professional and he wanted Malek to think she was not.

Maybe that made him approach her after he had taken the shower, with just a towel wrapped around his hips. His gamble did not really pay off. Maybe it was the century or just her, but she just did not re-act nervously or bothered by his near nakedness. She seemed more amused than anything else.

“You know, I don't actually need you to undress for this.”

“It is not a deterrent either, is it?” he said as bored as he was able to manage.

Leaning back he let her take her scans, he observed her but most of all he realised the need to make her tone down her efficiency for the cameras.

“Okay, this should give me a starting point, I might need more samples later on.”

Reluctant he turned away from her and walked back to the bedroom. He did bother to hide nor make a spectacle of getting dressed. He needed to take most of what he had to say to her away from the cameras. When he came back into his room, she sat on the other side of the table, staring down at the pad he had given her.

“If you have everything for now, we can go.”

“Go? I should stay and analyse the data. There is so much of it.”

Khan agreed with her. Not that he truly believe she would actually find something but it certainly increased the chances of her getting a better sense on how to treat him later on.

“Doctor, I appreciate your dedication but we both know, you are not sophisticated enough to find a cure for such a highly advanced virus.” He paused and looked for signs that she understood why he was putting her down, before he continued. “I have business on the Reliant and since I need to keep an eye on you, you will come with me and make yourself useful.”

 

Gaining one more shadow, Khan escorted the Doctor to the Reliant. On the way he jumped straight to the most burning questions on his mind.

“Tell me, what exactly has been your history with Starfleet? You have been a member, haven't you?”

“Have been - sort of.”

She seemed unwilling to admit it. Still trying to hide her feelings, Khan was already getting better at reading her. He chose a fast pace knowing that it would make it even harder for her.

“If you think it better to keep information from me, you are wrong. If you fear your past relations will include you in my vengeance, don't be. As long as you do as I ask, I have no reason to. But I need to know.”

Taking a deep breath, she sighed. “Alright, I suppose it does not matter. I had enrolled in the Starfleet academy, before the end of my second year, they finally got around to a comprehensive medical evaluation. One that included genetic testing. To my surprise, I found myself arrested.”

Naturally, Khan was aware that the federation had rules in place that outlawed genetic engineering, Admiral Marcus mentioned that often enough. It certainly did not apply to Dr. Jagoda, even though she was clearly smarter than the average human.

“For what?”

“Suspicion of treason, possible espionage, lying on my application form.”

Khan had been aware of some paranoid tendencies inside Starfleet. He also thought those had become less dominant in the past few decades. If Starfleet had thought logically about this, they would have realised that it made no sense for that alien species to plant a half-breed sleeper into their midst. A member of their own race would have been just as hard to detect if they had any intentions to employ a spy into Starfleet. It was a small minded re-action. Khan could tell that it had affected the doctor profoundly, which made him suspect that before this she had not known about her half-breed status.

“That was how you found out?”

“Yes. They figured I must be some sleeper, sent by some alien government.”

A lot of things became clearer: her reaction to the blood sample, the resentment towards Starfleet. “What happened then?” he urged her on.

“As my mother was dead and my word was obviously not good enough, Starfleet Command offered me another way to prove my innocence.”

Struggling with obviously painful memories, Lea was barely able to keep her composure. They had reached the dock, and she stopped as they went by the guard post to board the Reliant. Once he guided her down the corridor of the ship, she finished her story.

“After I was cleared, I could have gone back to the academy. But I did not want any more.”

It was a rather abrupt ending. Despite his curiosity, he thought it better to inquire at a later time what exactly had happened to her.


	11. The Explosion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Khan feels how much of a distraction Dr. Jagoda becomes when an explosion brings to light new options ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Many thanks to stelesandwands for ironing out problems with this chapter and being such a fantastic beta :D

Lea sat at the helm while he was testing the sensor array of the new ship. As nearly always she was studying the data on her pad and making notes. It was not like she could do much else. At least this way, he was not the only one who was frustrated with the situation. He could tell she wanted to study the virus. In those few private conversations they had in the corridors, he had discovered that she was very driven when it came to her work.

It was probably also distracting her from her own personal failing to find what she was really looking for. Judging by the way she looked at him when he worked on the ship's systems, she also needed it to keep her mind from thinking about what he was going to do. It hardly mattered, Khan knew he could bent her to his wishes. He knew he'd rather have her find out after he had the chance to push her buttons to make her feel for his cause. Fear and threats would also work.

With the doctor around he had begun to feel more on edge with every day. It made him resentful and he let that out on her by putting her down every chance he found. That was hard enough. She might be physically weak and emotionally even more vulnerable than ordinary humans but her mind was truly extraordinary. The more serious conversations he had with her, the harder it was for him to keep up the pretence. Even in those moments, he felt her brilliance by how well she went along with fooling Malek.

He realised he was starved for truly stimulating conversation. When she had begun talking about the need to upgrade the medical equipment to get more detailed readings, he found that her medical knowledge even down to the technology she utilizes was far greater than his own. He wanted her to have the opportunity to use his knowledge, and as soon as possible. Khan realised that he was looking at her more and more often. Sometimes it was her intensive reading that caught his attention and then his gaze lingered for a moment to graze her curves. Seeing her study the data made him realise that she was the first human after all this time who knew who and what he was. Despite this she was not his enemy. She was not yet a true ally either but he would make her one.

Time was running out but he had the feeling that if she had enough time and data, she might actually be competent enough to save his life. A thought that he pushed aside whenever it occurred to him. He did not want to live past his revenge, not alone - surrounded by inferior people who were at best pitiful distractions from the loneliness he felt.

At least from the point of view of the camera, there was virtually no evidence that suggested she was of value to him. He treated her more like a valet and ordered her around for whatever medical assistance she provided. Khan made it a point to mention that she was a capable nurse, thus at least justifying why he did not sent her away. Although sooner or later, he was sure that Malek would take her despite the distance between them.

Tension was growing, the closer he came to completing his task, the closer he came to being useless to Malek. His preparations had gotten him almost ready to strike successfully and devastatingly but he needed another shipment to arrive and there were some miner quirks to be worked out. Then the ship, the doctor, even the station and all the prisoners would be his. He had a pretty solid idea whom among the prisoners he would be able to use.

Khan thought about the two main plans he had for overtaking the station, one would require him to do most of the work himself. The second one would include a prison break. Both had their risks and their advantages. For the time being he was occupied with the test and he was using the sensor tests to analyse the station. It was almost amusing how he could spy and everyone around him just complimented on how perfectly the sensor array was functioning.

"Maybe we should not be overly optimistic, we still have the basic weapon system to test."

That was at least when Malek felt like scheduling one. He was delaying it because he clearly did not want to let Khan take out the ship on his own. So he needed to be there and he was just not giving any indication when that was going to be the case. Maybe he would have to skip it until he was in charge, he was sure there was not much room for error anyway, he had quadruple checked the application of his design several times already.

"So, doctor, shall we return to my quarters - I am sure you need to brush up on ...", he had wanted to use the opportunity to take another jab at her for the audience, when he noticed something on the still open sensor array.

"Enok, raise shields now!"

His command was obeyed by the scientist at that console immediately and just in time. A huge explosion from the secondary ore refinery erupted and parts of the station were blown away. They impacted on the waiting shields. He heard Lea gasp in horror, revealing her emotional weakness by showing so much compassion for strangers some of them who had every intention to mistreat her. Khan used the sensors to figure out what had gone wrong and how badly damaged the station was.

A quick scan for life signs revealed that there was just minimal loss of Cardassian life, but a portion of the prisoners had been blown out into space. None of them human, so the Reliant crew had not been affected. Khan wondered what he was to do with them, they had become more and more useless as his plans had proceeded. Some of the prisoners however, he had deemed useful, he would need to see how many of those were gone, he could not risk checking for the individual life sign from their species.

The explosion was clearly triggered deliberately by using the facilities mini-reactor as the device. Someone had blocked the energy flow, causing it to build up and then rip through it in a massive explosion. That part of the station was almost completely destroyed. The effects were not deadly on the main refinery but he realised immediately it would make security even harder to maintain. That worked to his advantage, so much that he feared that Malek would think him behind this. But Khan had already his own suspect. If he had been free to do so, he would have smiled.

"You can lower the shields now", he told the scientist. "Doctor, follow me - it would appear your medical support might be needed."

He walked with her through the corridor.

"Colour me surprised, I had no idea you cared so much", Dr. Jagoda said in a tone that was clearly showing she knew it was not compassion for the wounded that moved him.

Khan gave her a smile. "Malek will need all the help he can get." Then much softer he said. "I need eyes and ears on the scene."

"Was it sabotage?" she then asked.

"The sensors would indicate that. But then again, what else would it be?"

She shrugged. "Poor maintenance? I don't think a safe work environment is high up on their list of priorities."

Khan smiled, she had a point there. He also noticed that she was suddenly much less affected than before. There was something cold in her voice, not really cold, he corrected himself. It was more resignation, she disagreed with the situation, yes, but yet had accepted it as reality.

"You were obviously looking for your other parent, why did you pause to patch up primitive aliens on distant planets?"

Lea looked surprised at this direct question, he was a bit surprised himself for asking it already.

"In lack of a ship to take me where I want to go, I have to stop occasionally - I might as well make myself useful."

This logistical problem was something Khan had anticipated. She would need to hitch rides, somehow she had to pay for transport or bribe her way by means of offering her skills. It was time consuming but only showed that she had to be apart from Starfleet. Otherwise, she might have thought about taking a career with them, as it might have given her the vehicle she needed for her exploration.

"How long ago was your fall out with Starfleet?" he was curious how much time she had spent on her own.

"Well, put down a 5 and a 1, then you know the last time I have been wearing the uniform."

Fifteen years, he pondered the number. Either she had been very young when she had signed up which was not unheard off or she was a bit older than she looked. He would have killed to find out more, but they were greeted by Malek at the docking bay.

"Ah, coming to see the damage first hand?" he said sounding more hostile than usual.

Khan smiled at him, mainly because he knew that the shift in tone meant that this was really unnerving the Cardassian. Not to mention the suspicious eye he got. "I thought you might need all the medical assistance you can get. I have the feeling that patching up burn wounds and puncture wounds might be more up her ally anyway."

"I am sorry, the doctor's abilities are lacking in regards to your problem."

"She makes for a good nurse and lab assistant at any rate, things have gone more smoothly."

Malek looked at him for a moment. "Yes, everything up until now - but you are right, I came to borrow the good doctor as there are quite a number of prisoners injured who I want to get back into shape quickly."

Lea took a step forward. "I will do my best."

"Wonderful", he told her and turning towards him, Malek continued. "It might be safer to stay inside your quarters till we figured out who committed the sabotage."

He then gave a nod to the guards and left with the doctor.

Khan watched Dr. Jagoda, Malek and the other Cardassians disappear down the corridor. He felt no need to hurry, even though he had intended to head there anyway. When he finally moved he felt the relief from his two shadows, who no doubt dreaded having to make him go to his quarters. They knew as well as he did, that concern for his safety was not on Malek's mind.

Once back inside his quarters, he sat down at his work station and checked out the security footage. About four percent of the network was gone while another three percent was continually malfunctioning. He still was able to get a good idea of the damage, there were several dead bodies, not many of them Cardassian soldiers. But it did not bother him, at least once he saw the prisoners he had an interest in being marched toward the medical facility.

Especially the Romulan he had noticed on his earlier viewings. The guards had a weary eye on him and he received more of their abuse than of the other prisoners that were on shift with him. It was not that alone that had peeked his interest, the Romulan had himself and the other prisoners under control. He could see that a lot of them followed him.

Khan had marked him down, as useful to his plans. Whether he would overtake the station by himself or with the help of some of the prisoners, this Romulan was a good bet. Especially, since there was no name or background listed for him. After Khan had hacked once more into the Cardassian database he had found the Romulan's file being more or less empty. Either the Cardassians wanted to keep his identity secret or simply refrained from using the fake one the Romulan might have invented for himself. The result was a number instead of a name. What little else there was made it obvious that he was a spy.

His record said he had been imprisoned for almost then years now, yet he seemed fit both mentally and physically. All that pointed at a strong will and Khan could admire this in both adversaries and allies. They might as well be allies for the purpose of his little endeavour. If not, dispatching of the man should pose no problem either. Wishing he could lean back, Kahn remained in his rigid position blocking the camera trained on him as he continued to go through the on scene cameras.

The explosion site was unfortunately inaccessible but from the cameras close by he could tell that security was centring around that area. With so little to see, he accessed the feed to the medical bay just checking up on how his doctor was doing. Lea was completely wrapped up in the task at hand. He hoped that her efficiency would not give Malek any ideas, then again, being good at treating wounded did not reveal her abilities in regard to treating advanced viral infections.

It was a pleasure to see someone so skilled work. He observed her longer than he intended to and just as he was ready to check some of the other feeds, Khan saw her looking towards the doors. The expression in her face was surprise and recognition. Switching to another angle, he saw that the guards had just brought the Romulan around.

'Now, there was another answer to the question whom the doctor may be spying for.' Khan thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This month was really awful due to health issues - I am not sure yet how much better next month will be but I expect updates will continue to come less frequent. But even if no one cares, I am really want to finish telling this story and not just let the concept linger in my thoughts ...


	12. Headache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Khan's symptoms show up in full force it creates an awkward situation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to stelesandwands for betaing this for me ...

As it turns out a couple of prisoners who had perished in the explosion had attempted to set off a controlled blast to instigate a breakout. Only that they had miscalculated how powerful the resulting blast actually was. Malek was in a bad mood. His superiors were breathing down his neck and demanding answers he was only reluctant to give. Khan would be lying to himself, if he did not admit that it gave him great satisfaction.

There would be repercussions. Still, for the time being the Cardassian was busy questioning prisoners and was staying out of Khan's way. It would not be long, till Khan would have to act. The incident had the simultaneous effect of accelerating his plans and delaying the launch date of his new spaceship. He soon would be ready to take over, so it was more about finding the optimal moment to do so, then worrying about the final touches. He could easily finish the rest of the construction with a few technicians and some of the prisoners.

Some modifications by his own hands would be unavoidable anyway. He was sure another week of delay would not endanger his plan. The virus wore him down step by step, if Starfleet had hoped that would cause him to come crawling back asking for a cure they were wrong. Maybe he would find something in the ashes, or maybe the doctor would actually been able to help, either way, his main goal was revenge.

He had nearly completed the construction of the final tool he needed to sabotage the stations mainframe, he figured another night and a chance to run a test would do it. Right now he was pushing himself even harder than before. Khan could not deny that Malek's strategy was working. Lea Jagoda was getting to him. She was brilliant, easy on the eyes and he wanted to seduce her. He needed her to be on his side, to submit to his leadership and he had denied himself for too long. It would serve to clear his head by taking advantage of the situation.

The doctor remained almost infuriatingly detached, she played her role well, and he was sure whatever she hid from him would remain hidden as long as he could not properly get to her. He was getting curious, usually he was able to figure out people much faster. He played the recordings of her treating the Romulan several times but could make out very little of what they said to each other. He did not want to reveal that he was aware that they knew each other. He could not risk the doctor knowing about him having access to the security feed.

Their genuine conversations were limited to the mere minutes of walking through corridors andm even then she sometimes blocked him. The rift caused by Malek's stupid revelation of their plans was something that clearly needed to be bridged if he wanted to count on her future assistance.

“So, from what I heard, the topaline refinery was so underused that the new work shift changed very little about the output. This base was abandoned before Malek was given command.”

The doctor told him nothing knew but he appreciated that she had been able to coax the information out of her extended duties. He had gotten much better information from his access to the reports but this and everything she had found out showed him that if she was not a already a spy, she would make a great one.

“And have you figured out why it was put back to use?”

Lea gave him a pouting look from the console she was sitting on. The answer was obvious, but he liked to hear it from her nonetheless.

“Obviously given the clearly remote location, it was reinstated just for the purpose of building this Federation ship. A regular ship yard would have increased chances that some spy some where would get wind of this project.”

Khan continued with his scan of the warp core energy output. “Yes, some spy”, he said, “although one's got to wonder what - say - the Romulans would do with this information.”

“Hard to say; from what I heard, the Romulans are currently concerned about the Federation going on the war path. Some of them still believe the whole crazy Romulan from the future destroying Vulcan was some sort of ploy.”

“You know that for a fact?” he asked turning to observe her reaction.

But all she did was shrug it off. “I've heard it - but it seems to fit in with their general mind set, does it not?”

Smiling at the comment, he turned back to finish his diagnostic. There was an energy flux that the technicians needed to clean up, he was just not sure where the exact problem was. While he was busy, he went on with the current topic.

“I am afraid your experience with them is far more extensive than my own. According to Starfleet files they keep to themselves and influence events by covert and often very aggressive agendas. They back down once discovered.”

Lea laughed. “Yes, that is very accurate. And they assume that others operate in the same way, which is why I would not put it past them to actually believe in some heinous Federation plot gone wrong, rather than the time travel explanation.”

“What do you believe?”

There was a pause, before she just said. “Time travel is a reality, the story makes little sense, but other explanations seem even more ludicrous. There are bad elements in Starfleet but blowing up Vulcan just to start a war is just a step too far, besides even the most crazy, paranoid Vulcan-disliking warmonger would know that loosing Vulcan would only serve to destabilise the Federation.”

Khan wondered about the time travel bit, there was information in the non-public archives of the Federation that related things about a temporal war and Earth's early involvement with the Federation president Archer. It had all sounded like a science-fiction novel and there was little actual information about travelling technology. He rather not deal in speculation when he had other technologies to familiarise with.

Giving a series of instructions to the technicians to work on the glitches in the warp core, he wondered what to do with the rest of the evening. It was too early to sent the doctor away but with her in his quarters he could not finish his work.

“I think, I am going to tour the Reliant one more time, to see if there is anything of use.”

Dr. Jagoda jumped from the console she was sitting on. “Maybe we could also take a look around the sick bay and the late doctor's quarters.”

Khan looked at her with a smirk on his face. “Dying to get your hands on current Starfleet medical research?”

“Am I that transparent?” she said smiling.

Under the ever suspicious eyes of their shadow guard, they made their way to the Reliant. He wondered sometimes if they were able to make out what they talked about. Khan was aware that their conversations might come off as flirtatious because in a way, they were. He was aware of the subtle distance Lea kept from him, by avoiding to answer questions, or redirecting them. How she never let him come too close, and if he invaded her space, she backed away. To the untrained eye, her smiles and comments would appear as being comfortable around him. Sometimes it almost seemed as if she was, Khan was sure his own body language betrayed him more than once. He did feel comfortable around her, except those moments where he really wished Malek was out of the way.

“Will you have another look at the wounded prisoners in the morning?”

Lea shrugged. “They sure could use some more medical care but I doubt that Malek cares that much, most of them have either been killed for not being able to go back to work soon enough, or they were put back to work this morning.”

“How economical of him.”

Khan felt her scoff at his comment. But that was the truth of it. The prisoners were enemies of Cardassia and providing medical care was a drain on their resources. He would not necessarily act in the same manner, but, then again, he would have provided safer work conditions, and better supervision in the first place.

“You must think I am very cold-hearted.”

“Planning a mass genocide directed against your own home world”, she said with a bitter tone. “Cold-hearted is not even beginning to describe what I think.”

Then there was silence. Khan was not quite sure what to tell her, if he should try to let her in on his reasons, or if he should intimidate her by telling her that she should wonder more about her own fate? His hands were simply bound by that Cardassian buffoon who just waited for him to make a deeper connection to the doctor. Somehow he ended up taking a corridors hat lead them first to the quarters of the crew. Khan was not sure why he had chosen this path. Was he already compensating by wanting to give her the data she desired in light of not being able to gain her loyalty in other ways?

He tried to make sense of his motivation when he realised that he felt weird, his blood pressure was suddenly higher as it should be and he felt pressure on his head. With each following step it became worse. Khan was proud, and ignored the pain, the slightly blurry vision and the way the corridor seemed to move on its own. He has had such an attack before, it would pass, a rare side-effect from the virus or maybe even what it was designed to achieve permanently.

The attempt to hide the problem went well, till he felt him walking against a corner. His balance and vision was way off already, his head pounded so badly that he had problems thinking straight. He was vaguely aware that Lea called him by his name. He flinched as her voice hurt his head even more. Khan felt her taking his arm and wrapping it around her shoulders, her other arm wrapped itself around his waist. It felt too pleasant to brush her away, he also was too disoriented to do much else but follow where she lead them. They left the brightly lit corridor and then she ordered the lights out. That felt better already, after several more steps she suggested he should lie down.

“No, this will pass soon.”

Somehow she pushed against him with all her weight and he fell. Or at least he almost did, she stopped his fall and he managed to put an arm onto the bed, letting him down almost gently. He heard a groan escape his mouth but it was relief. Lying down felt good, Lea sat down beside him, placing a pillow under his head. He closed his eyes for a second. The noises of the medical tricorder made him open his eyes.

“What are you doing?” he asked her angrily, he did not want anyone to monitor him in this weakened state.

Lea sighed. “You are a worse patient then any doctor I've ever treated. If you want me to find a way to help you, you need to tell me if you having an episode - not let me find out when you can barely walk.”

Her voice cut into his brain like knives, even though she was right, alone for the tone she took he felt upset and pushed her away. He had not calculated how forceful his push was and he heard her hitting something.

“Ouch!”

“Do your scans but keep your voice down,” he told her calmly.

He saw her getting off the floor and then felt her sitting down next to him, she indeed spoke a lot softer when she continued her work. “Do you feel more dizzy, or as if the ground is moving?”

“The latter.”

Lea went through his symptoms and all the while he felt like, this should not be happening. He had never been sick a day in his life. Now, his own body was betraying him. He could recover from several stuns faster than this. This was not supposed to happen and he wanted to tell the doctor to go away. At the same time, he knew he needed one more than ever before.

“I am going to sick bay and see if I can find something to help with the symptoms.”

He grabbed her arm as he wanted to rise. “Noticed anything helpful?”

Her face fell and she shook her sense. “The tricorder is not advanced enough to show me what is going on the cellular level. But,” she sighed in frustration. “These readings don't make any sense - I can't figure out how the virus is supposed to do this ...”

He let go off her, having expected something like this. He closed his eyes, as it felt good not having ot see anything. “Let's face it, Dr., you are better than I make you out to be, but this virus is way over your head.”

Lea got up slowly, he felt her lingering presence. “Or maybe you feel better thinking there is no chance to life, because otherwise you might have to face the aftermath of your sick plan.”

A weak scoff escaped his mouth and his head felt like exploding. But he did not show the pain he felt. They brought it onto themselves, Starfleet had awoken him and then they had him shut away for Malek to find and smuggle out. Had they at least shown the courage and let him stand trial, he probably be executed already. Then at least he would have been re-united with his crew. Not that he believed in an afterlife but not existing did not seem that terrible compared to be being alone.

He heard doors but surprisingly quickly, the doctor was back at his side. Placing a cool, slightly wet cloth on his forehead. “That should help a bit with the headache, at least till I am back.”

“They murdered my entire crew, my family - I am only returning the favour. Not that you would understand that.”

“No, I probably would not,” she said with a solemn voice.

It made him wonder if she meant that she in general could not understand or if she hinted at the fact that she never had a real family. Khan wondered how she was able to cope being alone so much. The insecurity of travelling on her own without guarantee that she will be welcome or even remotely protected where she went next. In the end, his head hurt too much to think further, but maybe she was right. Maybe he rather die when this was over. What else was there to live for?

He hoped that the guards would not inform Malek, having the Cardassian see him so weak was the last thing he wanted. When the door opened after a while, it was just Dr. Jagoda coming back. She sat down by his side and revealed a hypo spray. “It should counteract the symptoms.”

Khan still had to stop her from giving him the spray. He caught her wrists in a painful grasp and pulled her closer staring into her eyes as he turned the hypo spray towards. The doctor flinched but he sure she was not trying anything. “Fine go ahead.”

After Lea injected him with the hypo spray he felt nothing at first. “You are welcome,” she said and got off the bed. “The balance problem should vanish first, but I recommend rest.”

“I do not need rest,” Khan protested and raised his head from the pillow. Then the room moved in a funny way.

“Should vanish first - not vanish immediately.”

“Alright,” Khan said. “Nobody can say I am not capable of listening to a professional.”

With a smile, she picked up the now dry and warm cloth from his forehead. “I'll be right back.”

He was not sure how long he rested but he did manage to doze off and when he opened his eyes, most of the pain was gone. There was just a slight reminder of the agony his head had been in. The doctor sat on the edge of the bed, studying something on her pad.

“How long?” he asked.

“About an hour and twenty minutes,” she lowered the pad to the ground and then stood up to sit a bit closer again. This time she had the tricorder in hand. “Interesting, your scans are almost back to normal. Or at least normal in regards to your last scan before the attack.”

Khan took the tricorder out of her hands. “It does not matter. Even if you find a cure, I do not want it. I want to be around to take revenge. You are of course welcome to try but you handling the symptoms is all I care for.”

“That should not be a problem.” The doctor sighed and wanted to get up again.

Again he found himself closing his hands around her wrist. He wondered if she would show bruises tomorrow. This time he was not holding as tightly, he just pulled her closer. Reaching around her waist with his free arm. She resisted just a bit.

“Do you think this is such a bright idea?”

“We spent an hour and a half in this unsupervised crew quarter ... does is matter anymore?”

“Hm,” she said, “Malek probably things we are playing doctor. Nevermind you are my patient.”

“And you are my hostage,” Khan replied.

He was not in the mood for a long winded discussion about social norms, there was no reason left not to use this moment. Dr. Jagoda smiled at him, then suddenly she moved her legs and was straddling him. With a breath taking enthusiasm she kissed him. Khan felt the tinge of satisfaction wash over, it seemed that however appalled she felt by his plans, he was still too good to pass up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To keep the main story at a certain rating, I have outsourced what happens between Lea and Khan to a separate story ... titled "After 300 years".
> 
> Feel free to tell me what you think about these developments ... another chapter is still in the works, hopefully with my next round of treatment coming and more pleasant temperatures, I might get it done sooner rather than later.


	13. Repercussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once more Khan is shown that Malek is in control of the situation - but taking what Khan considers to be his, is never a wise idea ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for stelesandwands betaing for me and pointing out when I go wrong ;)

It surprised Khan that Malek had not show up during the night. He was still not sure what happened. He remembered every thing clearly. Including his uncharacteristic headache attack, how Lea had brought him to this room on the Reliant. That his symptoms had let them be together for a long time and he felt it was logical to assume that Malek would figure they had used the time to play doctor in the non- professional sense.

Now, as he looked down at the figure of doctor covered by the silk sheets, he realised that he simply had wanted her. Wanted to feel close to someone. Once he had started, there was no going back. It had troubled Khan that she evoked these feelings in the first place. It reminded him of how alone he was. That he craved contact with the first person who was not an enemy.

Then he had spent the entire night with her: having her submit to his wishes had been an irresistible pull, and only increased his need to take everything she strangely enough offered. Now, at least he had gotten dressed and could rationally think about it, far away from the bed leaning against the wall.

There had been something enigmatic about the way she had not only endured but encouraged him taking her with rough force. His partners always submitted to him but nobody except his own people had ever been this active about sex. They both knew she would be paying the price for this - not just by the bruises he had left on her.

When the doctor had fallen asleep against him, hazed and exhausted, Khan had been left with a feeling of rising guilt. He had failed his crew: they were dead. He owed them revenge. So what he was doing pressing himself against her, when he should have been back to his quarters finishing his preparations? Even then, in that moment, Khan had been unable to let go.

Maybe it was a form of torture, because being with Lea also reminded him what he had lost. Khan could not deny that he had been drained; his heart and soul sucked dry by grief, anger and guilt. He was sure Lea would not appreciate it, but she was fuelling his fire. The pain and comfort he felt holding her, reminded Khan why he needed to go through with this. Just as she had promised, doing what had felt good, gave him new strength to make it through these dark times.

Then a chime at the door was heard and Malek entered the bed room moments later. Not two, but eight guards accompanied him on this day. He clearly was anticipating a move from Khan.

“Good morning, I trust you had a pleasant night - although I am afraid I bring bad news.”

With a signal to one of his men, the soldier stepped forward and grabbed the sleeping Lea by her arm. Waking her as he dragged her out of bed. Naked and confused, Lea stumbled and held onto him till she got her bearings.

“It has come to my attention, that the good doctor here, really is a spy for Starfleet.”

Khan's initial reaction was anger mixed with betrayal. Then he saw Lea's face which in her sleepy condition was at best a disbelieving “What?” He could not help but see the bruises he had left, apart from the intentional bite-mark and the love bites on her neck. Malek was also studying them with great interest.

“Looks, like their spies also go all the way. Tell me, doctor, did you sleep with Khan hoping he would protect you? Afraid of what he might do to you if Khan ever discovered the truth about your loyalties?”

“Tell me, Malek,” Lea said with an absolutely unshaken voice. “Is this a pure fabrication of Kanar addled mind or do you have something to make you think I am a spy?”

Malek approached the naked woman who carried herself with such carelessness, as if she was fully clothed. Khan could not help admire her for not letting this particular tactic get to her. It showed that despite being inferior in some aspects, her mind had quite some potential.

“Oh, we checked the Starfleet databases regarding cadets enrolled for the past 7 to 17 years, there is no record of you or someone even looking like you.”

Khan took a deep breath. That fifteen year period was something they had talked about on their walks. He had considered the possibility that part of their conversation would be overheard but this made him feel a tiny stint of anxiety, wondering how much Malek knew about what they said. In the end, he had not given away anything about his end game, just information about the doctor. Had she been lying about everything, was she that good? Or was this a strategy of Malek to make him feel betrayed?

It did not seem to add up, then again, whatever mind games the Cardassian was playing, he followed his own rules with unknown intentions.

“I did not make it to the year books?” Lea said with feigned disappointment, looking at Malek with a pout on her lips. It drew him closer, made him get into her face, which never flinched.

“Do not get any ideas, I will personally get the truth out of you - get her to the table!”

It was clear what the Cardassian intended to do with her. While Khan loathed the thought of her being tortured or have worse done to her by Malek, his revenge had to take priority. It did not help, that looking at his bite-mark, the deep blueish bruises on her wrist, the lighter indications of his hands on her butt and thighs, Khan felt that she belonged to him. Last night had her surrendered completely to his touch. Yet, as she briefly looked at him, there was nothing but distance. Not even the smallest hint that Lea hoped or expected anything from him.

Did she know that this only made him feel more strongly about getting her back? Part of him needed to know what went on inside that clearly advanced mind of hers. Was she really that good at compartmentalizing? Khan felt a certain sting at his pride thinking that what happened last night had been mere sex to her. Seeing the smug smile on the Cardassian's face, Khan knew that Malek needed to die - and soon.

Once Lea had been lead out of the room, Khan turned to the Cardassian: “Do you actually think she is a Starfleet spy?”

“Don't you? Has she enticed you that much?”

Khan shrugged. “I am just thinking you give her too much credit.”

Lying to Malek was easy, if she already was not spying for someone, Lea would make a great spy with the proper training. That was just it, she was smart, brilliant even in some areas, but she lacked the training. There was no way she could fake everything so well.

“Well, I'll find out what she is hiding soon enough,” Malek said. “In the meantime, you can continue with your work uninterrupted.”

This felt like a good moment to plant his fist inside the Cardassian's skull. But he resisted the urge. There was a better way. Soon he would have the doctor back, Malek out of the way, and the ship he'd built all to himself. This time his plan was nearly perfect. He had many options and could choose the ones that worked best with the situation accordingly.

“Yes, I should return to my quarters, there is a lot still to be done.”

Khan smiled unsettlingly at Malek. They both knew a confrontation was lying ahead. Only Khan was already counting in hours, less than fourty-eight he anticipated, while Malek was certainly still calculating that he had days left. “We've got a planet to annihilate, an Empire - no a Federation - to shatter, let's get going.”

“You do not seem to bother about the spy who shagged you,” Malek mentioned.

Khan stared at him. “If she is a Starfleet spy - I want her to see what we are doing.”

That made the Cardassian smile. “Great minds think alike, I do want her to see the destruction of her planet as well.”

With that he walked out having his guards follow him. Those looked uneasily back at Khan who waited till they were out of the way to leave himself. He had of course realised that Malek made no reference to him being there when Lea might have to see Earth being attacked. Yet, Khan kept on smiling as if he had not noticed. With his path finally free, the two shadows in tow once more, Khan strode to his quarters.

He wanted to get to work right away but found himself checking the security feed of the med bay. The procedure was already over. Lea, still naked, now shaking a bit more, had a fresh scar under her collarbone. Two guards dragged her away and Khan kept the feed going just long enough to memorize their features. Then he prepared his project in the usual manner and started: just a few more hours and he would be ready. The ship would not but tomorrow the last shipment of parts should arrive: the weapons guiding systems.

In theory, Khan could then oversee the rest of the construction without Cardassian help. He would use the prisoners of which some were certainly qualified. If not, Khan knew he would be able to install the guidance systems himself within a week. It would be exhausting. If this was to trigger another episode, he at least would be under the care of a good doctor.

Khan put together the remote controller, when his pad alerted him that another important message had arrived for Malek. Khan had arranged it so that these messages would be put on hold, so he could view them first. The note came from the ruling body, which was already overtaken by the military. Demands for more answers were obvious, they threatened him with sanctions if he could not provide them with a satisfactory status update. It was perfect timing, well almost perfect.

That message needed some improvements. For most it was difficult to accomplish two tasks at once, but Khan was more than able to do this. He had already done the mind work when he had drawn up the schematics for his little device, putting it together just required his eyes and hands. His mind was free to think about how best to re-phrase that rather urgent message.

The device was the easier task, took him less than hour. Battling with Cardassian grammar, finding the right tone and working in the right idioms was hard work. Especially since he wanted to make it clear that they expected him to report to them personally if he did not want to be replaced on this project. A good five hours later the new message finally arrived for Malek.

Khan was sure that this would rile the Cardassian up even more. There was the possibility that Lea would have to suffer for it, something that could not be helped. Taking over the station was the only recourse he had to get her back and she should be thankful, he was moving up the schedule. Unless Malek was going to take her with him. That would be a shame, Khan could not help but view her as the most valuable humanoid resource he had encountered so far. Nonetheless, it was the ship that was the key to his plan, the one thing that he truly needed. Everything else had to be a secondary.

Khan rose, he had not eaten for a while and he needed to check up on what the Cardassian technicians were doing. That had been a benefit of being with Lea, who had thought it her duty as his attending physician to make sure he ate regularly. Which was helpful, almost amusing that she would see to it without even being ordered to, despite the task being so significantly beneath her abilities.

He replicated something that would be eaten quickly. The Cardassian food selection was not to his liking, but as long as it provided nourishment it would have to do. Barely finished, he left with quick steps and walked towards the fake Starfleet vessel. Malek wanted to call it Armageddon; albeit in Cardassian. Khan tended to think of it as his own personal Trojan Horse but thought that Ragnarök was a much more suitable name all things considered.

He had almost reached the ship, when a very flustered looking Cardassian with the same oversized entourage rushed into the docking bay. Khan turned around, trying this best to remain as unaffected as possible. Was this Malek's reaction to being called back? For some reason he could not believe that Malek had discovered his influence on the communication systems.

“Is something the matter?”

“As if you do not know ...” Malek glared at him.

Khan shrugged. “I've done many things and was accused of even more, let's not waste time - just say what you think I have done.”

“Your doctor has escaped ...”

It was not the most diplomatic response but Khan smirked. “You took her away for questioning, nothing ever happened while she was under my watch.”

Malek approached him, his guards aiming their weapons, as if they actually could do anything if he decided to grab him and lunge for his weapon. The Cardassian was more than just upset, he was livid. He knew that Khan had spoken the truth but, he still wanted to place the blame on him. That much was clear. It would hardly matter that he had not been involved with her escape.

He wondered though, was he that easy to trick or was Lea that brilliant? Khan felt anger clouding his judgement and forced himself to analyse the situation rationally. Her escaping was by no means, proof that she worked for Starfleet. Spies were not the only profession that was able to escape from being escaped from a locked room. All it took was the know-how, determination and the right tools.

Malek glared at him. “I think you enabled her escape!”

Shaking his head slowly, Khan tried it with reason. Mostly because breaking Malek's neck know might complicate the plan he had set in motion. “How did I do that? You saw her this morning, she was naked, I did not even approach her. While I would have preferred to question her myself - I am aware I have more important things to do. If I was you, I'd be more concerned about her guard.”

Khan could see it in the Cardassian's face: he had simply locked her up and recalled her shadow. Something Malek would hardly do if he had actually believed the story he had spun about her being a Starfleet spy.

“Damn it,” Malek cursed. “It seems she is an even better spy than I had thought.”

“I am sure you will find her in no time, then you can ask her all about it.”

Something told Khan that Malek had tried to find her already. He wondered how quickly she had escaped after her procedure. With the use of the internal sensors it should have been an easy task to pinpoint her location. Khan could not give away that he knew about those, so he refrained from asking about them directly. But his curiosity was peeked.

“I want you to address her over the internal coms. Tell her that if she turns herself in now, I will hand her over to you and even leave the punishment up to you.”

“Waste of time, she'll never fall for that. Besides, just re-calibrate tricorders with wide range and depth penetration to scan for her.”

It was not the most rapid strategy but all Khan wanted to do is to get more information out of Malek and it worked. Whenever the Cardassian was losing his composure, he had a tendency to let information slip. Very obviously, a show off effect to demonstrate that he knew things. It was downright pathetic.

“The doctor just so happened to sabotage the internal sensors. I wonder who taught her to do that.” Malek sneered. “But if she is not out of reach, she should be in supreme agony. So yes, we will find her. We don't need you for that.”

With that fake display of power he and his guards left abruptly. If the Cardassians were having that many problem locating her, it only worked to Khan's advantage. He could see the amount of stress that weighed on Malek's shoulders. He was becoming more irrational and irritated. It was too bad that the safest option for an overtake was to have him and his flag-ship leave Terrok Tar. Which did not mean that Malek would not get special thanks for his hospitality some day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still having health problems, so sorry for the slow updates. But I do enjoy writing this story and hope at least some of you do as well - I can only guess ;)
> 
> I'd be really curious what you all think about the way Khan acts to Malek and Lea, what you think about the characters - good or bad. Same as the flow of the story, are their too many questions unanswered? I promise I got answers for all of them, some will be answered in this story and some left for the sequel.
> 
> Right now I am thinking about maybe giving away more before the story is out, but I am undecided, and well if I am sick I usually think too much. So I am asking ...


	14. Hostile Takeover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title says it all: Khan is finally fed up with taking Malek's orders and sets his plans in motion to take over Terrok Tar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks to stelesandwands for beta-reading this chapter for me.

The confrontation was inevitable, that was not what worried, Khan who had been placed under arrest in his own quarters. Instead of the two shadows in front of his door, there were now almost a dozen guards. Malek had come by shortly after Khan had finished his inspection of the still unnamed ship. This time he had an update that troubled even him.

Not only the doctor had gone missing, Lt. MacGyver, the female officer that had been used against the Commander Terrell, had also escaped. Malek was now convinced that Lea was actually a Starfleet spy, that she had freed his “special guest”. Khan began to wonder, maybe he had not wanted Lea to work for his enemies, had he fooled himself? Still, there were other possibilities to consider; Malek revealed that he had kept the officer locked up in a room for his personal entertainment. If the Cardassian had mentioned this to Lea, wouldn't she be compelled to act?

No matter what, there was something about the doctor, that Khan knew she was hiding from him. Something that he would be able to figure out easily, once he was able to do as he pleased.

A second message from Malek's superiors had arrived, one that he could send on right away. It was more obvious threat with an order to react without further delay. Followed by a reply from Malek that he would be leaving the station as soon as possible for a personal report. Khan loved this about him. He had counted on Malek acting as if coming was his own idea, rather than something he had been ordered to do.

The ship delivering the parts arrived and Khan watched them unloading the cargo, lying in his bed, pretending to be upset by the new restriction posed onto him. They had darkened his windows, so he had not been able to see the arrival - but of course they had not idea he was logged into the security feed. He had his eyes on four cameras simultaneously. Observing the outside of his quarters, the dogging bays: one for the cargo ship, the other for Malek's flag ship, the Grut'na, and the last was a random fast randomized zapping through the rest of the cameras. Khan had little hope of spotting Lea but he kept an eye open for anything unusual.

The guidance systems were unloaded at fast speed, no doubt Malek wanted to get the ship out of here as fast as possible. Just as he probably looked forward to getting rid of Khan, only there were still some glitches in the navigation system, the power output and other small things that randomly appeared which the Cardassian would want to be sorted out before going for the final break. Not that these were real problems, Khan was just more familiar with Federation technology, and had made sure that some problems would arise that seemed natural enough but were sabotage which could be easily enough, remedied if one knew what to do.

Khan knew that as intently he was observing them, he probably was monitored at this very moment. It was the calm before the storm and he wondered if his enemies were aware of this. Malek certainly was everything but calm. Two hours after the cargo ship had left, Malek showed up at the docking bay to board the Grut'na. His two seconds in command, were accompanying him for some last minute instructions. He could not hear for lack of audio on the outer surveillance cameras, but he could make out enough from lip reading Malek whose face was in plain view.

One of the Glinns got the order to keep him under lock and key and only escort him to the ship if the technicians could not resolve the problems within 24 hours. The other one was charged with finding the two women by the time Malek would return and to stop them from more acts of sabotage. The punishment for failing would be execution. Not that the Glinns would need to worry about that for long; they would be dead soon enough.

Khan felt this tingling of excitement. It had been about time to gain his freedom. Now, he just needed to wait till the Grut'na was out of scanning range, then turn off communications and proceed to kill every single Cardassian standing in his way. He began by setting up the lock down program he had written. It would first shut off the outside communication systems, it helped that the internal sensors were already off. Then on a timer, he would shut down all internal control systems and transfer the controls to his pads. A special reinforced one, with fewer control options and a regular one with all functions. Khan had made the back up with less functions, in case the regular pad got broken in battle. This time around he was not taking any risks he could avoid. It was time to come out in full force and show them what he was made off.

Activating the false video feed for the last time, Khan got the two flash grenades he made, both the size of a pen, put the large knife and the small stun phaser into his belt. Getting one grenade ready he opened the door and threw it through the first crack, before diving out of the door way. Then seconds after the explosion, he was back in the corridor. The guards had no chance. Those still standing, were stunned and then he grabbed the first rifle. He fired a head shots at the guards who were down and when there was finally no threat left, he grabbed a second rifle.

Khan had to admit they were quite effective weapons, might have even put the drop on him, if they ever got around to hitting him. He kept the stun phaser at hand - just in case he needed to shoot someone who might still be useful. Then he felt the fluctuation in the light, the signal that his program had successfully invaded all the ops systems and transferred control over to his pads. Now the internal defence systems were down and he could seal of any doors he liked to. But they would not know that before it was too late.

Khan was about to take over and there was nothing the Cardassians could do to stop him. Before they had a chance to overwrite his program, they would be dead on the floor of the ops centre. Khan headed down the corridors, evading a clumsy ambush. A shot missed him by far as he sidestepped before taking down two more soldiers. Then his way let him through the commerce area. An open space, with second story walkways above.

Just like the good doctor, Khan knew every inch of this place. Using the second flash grenade, he stormed the room. Shooting down three soldiers, before taking cover. Then, calming himself he stepped out and two more fell. Khan could tell they were getting scared. He dove out, moving too fast for them to get a hit with all the structural interference. More shots were fired, then he grabbed a blade from one of the soldiers on the ground and slaughtered those coming too close while still aiming with the rifle at those above. Unlike them, he could fire and aim the rifle with one hand.

It did not take more than three minutes and twenty-three seconds, for the two dozen soldiers who had gathered to stop him, were either dead on the floor or hanging dead on the walkways above.

Khan turned to the camera and smiled. Then he activated a command on his controller and the entire system was inaccessible from the ops. All section doors shut themselves, they would only open by a command from Khan. He had shown them what he could do, sown fear into their hearts and trapped them. Now, they had but to guess where he was going to show up next. He looked around the bodies - making sure everyone was truly dead. It was not that he was gloating in this savagery but he took some satisfaction in knowing that soon everyone who had participated in enslaving him would be dead soon.

It was time to head for the ore refinery: time to seek out some helping hands. Khan looked forward to meeting a certain Romulan. There was some resistance on the way, nothing that was more than a moments distraction. While the Cardassians were a bit stronger than humans on average, they were not matched for his strength. At one time a larger group tried to jump him at once in the corridor. After Khan had grabbed the first one and twisted his head around, the other had been too shocked to put up much of a fight. Using the dead body as a shield, he deflected enemy fire before shooting the Cardassians with rifles.

He did not waste much time, the guards at the refinery died next. The prisoners stared at him: they must have heard rumours about him. The questions was what and how they would re-act. Khan was sure some of them would be dumb enough to attack him.

“You have one choice to get out of here: Follow my lead. If you cross me, I will kill you. If you aid me, you will gain more than just your freedom.”

They were a colourful mix of various aliens, some prisoners were of course Cardassians, but there were also a handful of Romulans, Arkonians, Kressari and some species who looked human at first sight but were not. Khan had read about many species in the Federation archives. Some of the information was still thin, a couple of aliens he could not even name. In the end, the only thing that mattered was if they were smart enough not to oppose him.

“And who are you?”

Whatever species he was, his Cardassian was clearly even worse than Khan's. The unknown alien had a naturally very deep, threatening voice and an imposing slightly furry physique to match. Not that he would be much of a threat to an Augment; even if his three comrades closing ranks behind him were to enter that equation.

“I am the man in charge of the station's systems,” Khan pointed out calmly.

“You are but one human,” an Arkonian commented.

The prisoners closed in and Khan just waited for one of them to make the wrong move. A display of strength would speed up matters. These men and women had been too long held like this, most of them would respond better to clear authority than good arguments. They would be off better if they followed him. For the simple reason that he could not leave anyone behind.

“That's what the Cardassian's thought.”

Pretending not to notice the two pairs of Kressaris closing in from two sides, Khan kept looking at those who had questioned him. Then the aliens lunged. With a simple fist punch to the chest, the first one was thrown off. The force of his own movement was redirected. As he fell his legs kicked into the air. The cracking of bones emanated from his rib cage.

His attack partner, Khan grabbed with a swift movement, rendering the blow directed at him into momentum to break or at least dislocate the shoulder. The other two attackers were quick but the shiv directed at Khan, ended up stuck in the back of Kressari with the dislocated shoulder. As he threw the fatally wounded one to the floor, his free hand grabbed his comrade by the neck and raised him above he ground. Just as he wanted to throw him against the fourth attacker, someone had shot the remaining Kressari.

Pure instinct made him reach for one of his rifles but then Khan saw that the Romulan had fired the shots. That man was not stupid enough to point the weapon in Khan's direction. It already hung again loosely in front of his chest. The shots had the effect that now almost everyone backed up and watched with keen interest.

“I assume that you are also capable of taking control of that ship you have been building for - well - I guess yourself ...” the Romulan said with a smile.

Smart and dangerous, that was a way to describe the nameless prisoner. Khan already liked him for his bold approach, the way he laid the cards on the table. Even though it seemed distinctively un-Romulan.

“I've made sure that the ship does not go anywhere without me.” Khan paused making sure the prisoners understood him. “But I could use a crew.”

“What if we do not want to join your crew?” another prisoner asked angrily.

Turning his head slightly to see the person's face, Khan said with an almost bored voice: “Then you can remain here on the station. I won't force anyone to join me, if you are not smart enough to serve your own best interests, I would not want you on my crew anyway.”

“You can count me and my men in,” the Romulan replied and pointed to a few of the prisoners standing close to him; something that Khan had expected. He had often seen the six men and three women following non-verbal cues on the recorded footage. It just remained to be seen if these nine were ready to follow his orders. But that was always the danger when finding new recruits for a cause; some of the new men would eventually try their own thing.

“I don't see what good it does, if I trade one prison for another - I got family waiting for me. My goal is to get back to them - not to join up some ship crew.”

The woman who had spoken was a rather fascinating looking alien: bald with orange slightly glistening skin and ridges on the sites of her nose which had no other visible opening. She also seemed to have gills. Khan was grateful she brought up this question. It was a sentiment he could relate to and she was most likely not the only one feeling this way.

“I require your assistance for a month, maybe two,” he stated, “after I've done what I set out to do - you reward can be a direct trip to your home-planet.”

The alien woman looked at some of the others. They all realised that they would be in a different kind of danger. Of course, they had no reason to trust him. But neither did he. Khan knew he would have to limit some of the prisoners from accessing vital areas, here and especially later on his ship.

Another voice, resonating in an non-human way, spoke: “Why should we trust the word of a human?”

“I have not given my word, I gave my terms - you are welcome to accept them or rot on this station when I have left.”

“I am in, I rather take my chances out there, then sit here and hope for rescue.”

The bald alien woman spoke again and was instantly joined by a couple of other prisoners. After Khan counted about two dozen volunteers, he ordered them to lock up the rest. Which left him with twenty recruits who had no problems obeying this order. Khan would not risk those opposed to him messing up his plans. They could easily damage his ship when trying to take it or free the Starfleet crew.

Those four who did not like it, were not just disobedient but too sentimental or righteous to be of use. He sealed off the doors after he had lead his new crew out of the area. Gathering in the market place area, he sent them out in groups of five to secure vital spots and get rid of more of the Cardassians. Khan himself went to secure the Ops. He had already lost enough time with recruiting.

It proved to be most impractical that the internal sensors had been sabotaged. While he was restoring the surveillance system once every Cardassian in the Ops was dead, the visuals were limited. Some of the Cardassians might have realised that they had no chance against him and go for the sabotage route. At least the team he had sent to secure the docking bay was in place according to the cameras and they seem to know what they were doing.

As for the rest of the Cardassian soldiers, they were swiftly deposed by the Romulan and his followers. While not as effective as he was in combat, they were well trained and employed by him and the Latorian who lead the second team. The Romulan clearly knew how to select talents, he had the advantage that he knew about their capabilities. With aid from Khan, they easily trapped the soldiers and then were attacking and dispatching them at their own leisure.

Next he turned on the comm systems relaying a very important message that would be heard in every corner of the station. “This is Khan Noonien Singh. As of now, I am in charge of this station. Technical personnel surrendering will be taken prisoner. I've given orders to my newly recruited crew to shoot anyone who resists. Make no mistake, I have access to every system. Surrender is the only viable option.”

Then he paused a moment. Cardassian strays were not the only problems he had to contend with. There was still Dr. Jagoda and the Starfleet officer she had set free. It was plausible that Lt. MacGyver would do more than go after the internal sensors.

“As for the Starfleet officer currently hiding on this station, turn yourself in immediately. If you have not surrendered in one hour, I will randomly kill another member of your crew, every 15 minutes, till you do. Any act of sabotage will result in me jettison half of the crew into space.”

Which left only Lea. “Dr. Jagoda. Malek seems to be convinced you are still working for Starfleet. I am willing to listen to a better explanation. Provided you do not let me wait.”

For a moment, he leaned back. Went through all the steps he still needed to do and put them in the most effective order. For now, it was time to head over to this ship and take control of it. At the same time he needed the others to clean up the station further. Once that was out of the way, he could lay finishing touches onto the ship. If nothing else went wrong, once he had Dr. Jagoda back and taken care of Lt. MacGyver, he could finally leave this place and head towards earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about not updating sooner, my muse is not really working with me (has me working on another project) and now I also need a new beta. But I hope I will finish this story this month ... depending how fast I can find a new beta, I will post it, too.


	15. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Khan has taken over the station, but there are still a few troublemakers to be captured and his new crew needs to be carefully examined, especially a certain Romulan who could be enemy or ally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long, lost my muse and my beta and after I finished this in December I looked for a new one but ended up proofing this myself.

“If there are any more Cardassians left, they have gone into hiding,” the Romulan reported, his plasma rifle hanging over his shoulder. Khan was not sure if the relaxed attitude was faked or real. Something he would examine closer, as Khan had wanted a one on one discussion with the man anyway.

“I assume you’re with the Tal Shiar,” Khan began using Federation Standard English.

The Romulan smiled and switched to near perfect English as well. “Used to. We’ve had a falling out decades ago. Before I ended up here - eight years ago - I was a very successful captain and member of the smuggler band known as the “Darok”. In Romulan it means, Chosen, in most of the other languages the meaning is far more sinister.”

He did sound very proud of this, Khan was a bit surprised how openly he admitted to belonging to the spy organisation even though the Romulan denied any current associations. He must know it would cast suspicion on him.

“So you are telling me, you are nothing but a smuggler?” Khan baited him.

“I am a very good smuggler,” he replied proudly and clearly amused at Khan's attempt to draw a reaction by demeaning what he was doing. “But in all honesty what difference would it make, if I was still working for the Tal Shiar? Anything that would destabilize the Federation and finally get that war with the Klingons going would be in their best interests.”

Walking closer to the Romulan he was not showing any signs of intimidation either, Khan looked at the once certainly handsome face. There was a gash from a phaser burn that had destroyed part of his cheek along with the tattoo and had taken off part of the left ear. It was the lower half, which gave this a truly odd look.

The Romulan did not seem uncomfortable either being placed under such close scrutiny.

Khan liked that, as well, it was good to know that while there weren’t any more Augments left, there were still people like the Romulan and Lea who came close. Continuing his inquiries Khan asked: “You don't mind acting in their best interests?”

“Let's say, I dislike the government, the methods of the Tal Shiar,” he shrugged, “but as long as it keeps war from coming to my homeworld - I’m all for it.”

It did not appear that he was the most ferocious patriot but Khan understood the sentiment. He might not be able to do much anymore, if his story was correct, but given the opportunity he would take it.

Khan looked at him intently. “What is your name?”

“Te'mujen,” he said proudly and added with an amused tone. “Even though the Cardassians didn't believe it. That really is my first name.”

There was something about the lax attitude that Khan felt comfortable. It was different from everyone fearing or distrusting him. It might be an act on behalf of the Romulan or due to the wrong believe that Khan was only superior to other humans and the level with his species, either way it was a nice change. Since even with Lea he had sensed her fear no matter how hard she had tried not show it or let it influence her actions.

“I like it, your name reminds me of someone from my planet's history, who had very similar sounding name,” Khan admitted.

“Was he an easy going guy, who liked hot baths and walks on the beach during the full moons?” Te'mujen joked.

Even though, Khan didn’t want to, the Romulan made him smile. “No,” he replied. “He was a great conqueror, more famously known as Genghis Khan. His real name was Temujin.”

“Conqueror is such an overrated job,” Te'mujen replied. “Just as being a spy. I should have listened to my mother and gone into retail or stuck to assassinations. Little work and great pay.”

“What can you tell me about Dr. Jagoda?” Khan said to get back to what he needed to know. Unfortunately, he had no time to sample more of the Romulan’s pleasant attitude, at least not for it’s own sake.

It would be hard enough to figure the Romulan out, but it seemed like it was going to be enjoyable. Khan did not doubt that the other man was hiding something. Time would reveal if that secret ran contrary to Khan’s goals or if theirs were compatible.

“Lea,” Te'mujen said fondly. “You know, I wished I had listened to her advice. She warned me that my second-in-command was going to backstab me.”

“She was on your crew?” Khan knew he should not be really surprised, the doctor definitely had gotten around. Still, he felt a pang of jealousy, that was too irrational to give it any further thought.

“For a few years, we needed a medical officer - she had proven she qualified for it,” he shrugged. “Lea didn’t just patch us up. She’s one hell of an engineer and a fast learner.”

“An Engineer?” Khan said doubtfully.

The Romulan smiled as his gaze went to one of the consoles. “Back then, I just thought she was a tech nerd with no clue about anything else.”

“That is why you did not listen to her,” Khan concluded, realising he had made the same mistake of underestimating her abilities. It was clear that the doctor had guarded her secrets well. Then again, Khan remembered her handing him exactly the right tools as he was fixing up the sensor array. Khan realised he should have known then. Had she made an error or had Lea tried to tell him that she knew her way around a spaceship?

“I thought of her as a young human girl, never had much respect for humans in the first place. Although she isn’t quite human, is she?” The Romulan scoffed. “Anyway, I was too trusting ... Lea - ah, she saw right through my treacherous first officer. That's why I ended up here.” He smiled fondly. “But seeing her again - that was very enlightening.”

“Enlightening in what way?” Khan wondered if Te’mujen had noticed something about her that had escaped him. It was not too unlikely, having known her in the past, seeing her years later made one more prone to notice changes that a person who barely knew her or knew her continuously would not notice.

“How old do you think she is?” Te'mujen asked.

That was indeed the question. Engineer, doctor and able to see through people: that was a bit much for someone who looked liked they had barely passed her thirties. Even though Khan suspected he was now the one being tested he played along. “I thought she had to be in her mid-thirties - although she looks younger - but her medical expertise can't be from someone under thirty.”

“I met her eleven years ago. The good doctor has not aged in the slightest.”

Khan closed his eyes for a moment. He rarely overlooked anything and he felt he should have known, especially since Lea had not even lied about her age. She just had let him draw the wrong conclusion, just as Malek had. 5 and 1, Lea had said. But it was not fifteen years since she had last put on a Starfleet uniform. It had been fifty-one years. Suddenly, a lot of things made more sense. The rampant paranoia, her experience and the vast knowledge. She had spent decades in outer space, living in constant danger always on the lookout. It was no surprise that she was so highly qualified, she had years of experience and opportunity to study.

“Ever thought she’s still in contact with Starfleet?” Khan asked.

The Romulan shook his head. “No, I know spies, she isn’t one. She is looking for something - but that is for her own reasons - not for the Federation.”

Khan acknowledged with a nod. He had to ponder the Romulans input. There were many more things he wanted to know but it was time to focus back on securing the station and his ship. Whatever else might come, Khan had a new first officer and it was time to use him.

“See if you can fix the internal sensors. I don't want any nasty surprises. There are still a few things to do, before we can take the ship away from here.”

Te’mujen went to work. Khan kept an eye on everything from Ops, like the time. He had given Lt. MacGyver one hour to surrender and he was ready to follow through on his threat to execute the crew of the Reliant one by one, if she did not surrender before the the time was up.

After fifty-five minutes he ordered one of Te’mujen’s men to fetch one of the captured Starfleet officers: anyone but the captain Khan had ordered. When he checked back in from the prison cells, he had something interesting to report.

“Sir, she’s here! The lieutenant,” the man said surprised.

“Trying to free her shipmates?” Khan asked, almost expecting such a futile effort.

“No, Sir, she approached us to surrender, shall we bring her to you?”

Khan thought a moment about that and decided it was not worth the effort. If she had done more sabotage, she would not tell hím that easily and they would be gone soon. “No, but ask her about Dr. Jagoda.”

Khan waited a moment, then they reported back stiffly: “She says they split up some time ago.”

“Very well, lock the Lt. up with the others, I’ll deal with them later on.”

Khan had almost expected this to be resolved within one hour ultimatum he had given. The lower ranks were usually less corrupt than their higher ranking masters. Which he was sure was because the admirals took great care whom they took into their ranks. Not that they always displayed great care with their promotions, as a wildcard like Captain Kirk in command of his own ship proved.

He briefly thought that maybe killing the Reliant crew was unnecessary - but they still worked for the enemy and they would get in his way. Besides they were better off dead after what he was doing to Earth and the Federation. It did not matter, what bothered him was Dr. Jagoda not turning herself in. If she really was not a Federation spy, then she should have shown up by now.

Khan did not want to to assume that this was the only reason for her reluctance, but he could not help feeling angered and increasingly betrayed. Determined not to dwell on Lea, since there was important work to be done, Khan went back to checking on the progress of his people securing the station and also letting them come to the ops one by one to ask them about their engineering and other other useful abilities.

Before they could leave he would have to assign them spots on the ship. They of course did not realise that he already knew a bit about them thanks to his access to the security camera over the past few month. He had seen half of them when Te’mujen reported that he had found something important.

It was obvious that he did not want to report it over the comm links so Khan told him to join him in Ops. When Te’mujen showed up, the look on his face was less cheerful than usual. He did not wait and went right ahead.

“I was checking the comm systems to figure out if anyone sent any messages that might have warned the Cardassian authorities. That’s when I found a message that had been sent out shortly before this little overtake happened. Embedded in a hidden transponder signal that was using the Grut’na as a signal boost.”

Khan immediately understood what he was not saying. This was not done by the Cardassians.

“The Starfleet officer?” Khan asked.

“Yes,” he agreed and was almost reluctant to add, “but the way it was sent out, reminds me very strongly of a method us smugglers used.”  
“Lea,” Khan’s face fell at the implication. She had helped the Lt. to sent out that message. “Do you know the content of the message?”

Te’mujen nodded and pressed a few buttons on the console. Then the monotone voice of Lt. MacGyver filled the room.

“This is Lt. Phoenix MacGyver of the USS Reliant. The Reliant has been attacked and captured by Cardassian ships, the crew is trapped on a Cardassian space station, no more than 30 standard lighthours from the last coordinates of the Reliant attached to this message. The Cardassians are in league with the terrorist known as John Harrison. He is building a Miranda Class Federation vessel aimed at passing through the security network to attack Earth. The ship can be recognized by more detailed scans as it is equipped with devastating weaponry. The ship will be ready in two weeks - maybe sooner. I can only hope that this message will reach Starfleet command in time.”

Khan rarely resorted to violence against inanimate objects but in this case putting his fist through one of the consoles was a much needed release. Not so much for destroying it but because the hard structure sent a dose of pain from his fist through his arm, that he drank up. The strong physical sensation kept his mind grounded, when Khan felt it exploding with rage.

It was not just that he realised that Lea had betrayed him or even the fact that he had put his whole revenge scheme in jeopardy. What got to him is how she had played him. Khan was neither used to being outsmarted nor was he ever fooled that badly by the character of a person. Lea had managed both.

She had distracted him by revealing enough about her that was true to hide the most important parts and used her weakness to pretend that she submitted to him. He had bought it, because Lea seemed so genuine and who knew maybe she was a natural submissive in bed. It was so stupid for him to assume that she would be in all other aspects. Worst of all, he had counted on her being too smart to go against him, when he had never considered that her moral code was stronger than her self-preservation.

Te’mujen was smart enough not to comment while Khan was working through the motions, because being outraged at his failure to properly judge her was not productive either. It took him a brief self-reflection to see why it happened. He had wanted her to be the smart, yet submissive scientist, because he had needed the companionship. That was the worst about this: part of him still wanted her, because as much as he loathed her for the betrayal and coming between him and his revenge, he also admired her. It was rare to meet someone who at least intellectually could keep up and the fact that she had stood up for her principles was making him respect her even more. Because she could have done nothing and gotten out of here alive, instead she outed herself to be on the side of his enemy to oppose his plans. Lea had not even made a secret out of her disapproval.

“What about the internal sensors?” Khan asked knowing he would have to track her down. He might threaten the lives of the Starfleet crewmembers again to get her to come out of hiding but if possible he would avoid making a second announcement taking back what he had offered in the first. His own crew might start to question how binding his word was, he needed to avoid that.

“I’ve sent Tallon and Leiza, they should have fixed it soon,” the Romulan explained. “Although they are probably a bit out of practice.”

Being stuck in a mining facility certainly was a waste of talent for the type of people the smuggler would attract. “How long have they been here?”

“Leiza has been here almost as long as I’ve been and Tallon came on board two years ago. But I knew him before that,” Te’mujen said sounding almost nostalgic.

“A member of the Darok?” Khan assumed. His new first officer confirmed it with a nod.

“See how they are doing, then find her,” he ordered knowing it was about time to get going. Even if Starfleet had gotten the message he would keep trying to reach Earth. He was only more determined. “And Te’mujen,” Khan added as the Romulan was about to leave, “don’t mention the message to anyone.”

“Of course not,” he said and left Khan to this dark thoughts.

His anger was still boiling under the surface, one of the disadvantages of being Augment - they were so quickly angered. Khan had taught himself and his crew to control that rage, that need for quick solutions; but sometimes they were just too overcome by their emotions which just like everything else about them was that much stronger.

After less than five minutes, the doors to the OPs opened again and his surprise was quickly going to cold rage. Te’mujen had returned and Lea was standing beside him. Khan knew there was no way that the Romulan had found her himself, which meant she had turned herself in after all.

“So you’ve booted Malek out of his own station,” Dr. Jagoda said trying to sound casual but he could hear the slight tremble in her voice.

Te’mujen must have told her that they had found the message. Khan stared at him and reluctantly the Romulan stepped back. He could see the fear creeping into her with each step she took but she did not move one inch back. Lea even met his gaze but he was too enrolled in his rage to make anything of her expression.

Khan thought about asking Lea so many things but any question that came to mind seemed meaningless. Before he knew it his hand closed around her throat. It was pure instinct, he did want to choke the life out of her inch by inch. There was something about her wide-eyed terror that was also utterly resigned. Khan knew he could end this rather quickly and snap her neck instead of letting her slowly suffocate but instead was just putting just enough pressure to make that would happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will come soon, it's finished but I just need to proof it.


	16. The Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Khan's plans for revenge are challenged even more when he receives an important information that will change everything he had been working for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Proofed all on my own, as I don't have a beta - but I'm always looking for someone who loves editing. For this story or others.

Chapter 16 The Future

Khan watched Lea grasping for breath. After he had let go of her neck, the doctor had dropped to her knees. She tried holding herself up on her arms but was still too weak. Khan had come so close to actually finishing her off, but he knew he had not gone about it slowly to make her suffer. It had given him time to process what he had known instinctively: he did not want her dead.

There were too many questions unanswered and too much had happened between them. Khan had lost so much in this new future, that he did not want risk to losing more. Even if she was not sure what he had with her. Lea had gone up against him and Khan would make her pay the price for that. This would not be a her death, at least until he was absolutely sure it was what he wanted.

“Tell me, Lea, if that is even your real name,” Khan told her, his voice ice-cold and demanding, “and I just want to hear ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Are you still a member of Starfleet? Think carefully about your answer, because if you lie, I will kill you.”

Lea was still catching her breath when Khan had finished and he could hear that she was not ready to answer yet. He had the time to wait until she was ready. The doctor looked up to him, she did not bother to rise but she meet his gaze and then said with a hoarse voice: “No.”

It was the answer he had not expected or even wanted to hear. A ‘No’ made everything so much more complicated. Lea might have chosen it thinking that admitting to being a spy would get her killed as well. It was also likely that she was telling the truth. In a way it would be more comforting to think that she was not actually that good at deceiving him.

Trusting his instincts in this case was not easy. He wanted her answer to be the truth. That kind of thinking was impeding this judgment.

He turned away from her, approaching Te’mujen. The Romulan was easier to deal with. He had noticed how he had wanted to move when he had begun choking Lea but resisted the urge. That told him that he might view her favourably but was neither stupid nor suicidal enough to act upon it.

“You told her that you’ve found the message and what it meant,” Khan told him, wanting to see how he was going to react.

“She saved my life once, I had to say something,” the Romulan said sounding very serious.

Te’mujen had given her the chance to walk away. He admitted it, both to show that he had honoured what she had done for him and that he was now no longer bound by it. He was either principled or thought he benefit from acting as if he was. Khan nodded, he was thinking about what do next.

He had planned to take the Reliant crew on board as prisoners to have their life signs help with creating the illusion of having a Federation vessel with a mostly human or at least Federation member folk. Since Federation command was now likely aware of him coming, he had no need of them anymore. It would be easier to have them perish with the rest of the station.

“Take Lea on board, we will make the final repairs on the way,” Khan told Te’mujen. “Then we blast this station to bits. The weapon systems need a real test anyway.”

“What about the other prisoners?” the Romulan asked. “The Starfleet crew?”

“Thanks to someone tipping off Starfleet command - we don’t need them anymore.”

Khan looked at Lea and saw that she had meant to say something but he let out a sharp “don’t”. At the moment, he did not care to hear another word from her. But it did not stop her, she just paused and what he thought was a gesture of defeat, was her lowering her head so he could not see that she searched for the right words.

“Your crew,” she began making him instantly freeze, when he had meant to clear up that he was serious about her not talking. Lea raised her head and began again: “Your crew is still alive.”

“What?” he said angry and and not believing her. Khan was also furious that Lea even dared to mention them.

“I found out from Lt. MacGyver,” Lea explained as she attempted to stand up. Without even thinking Khan grabbed her and pulled her up, but kept her wrists in a tight grasp as he held her closely.

“Well, isn’t that convenient?” Khan mocked her, wondering if she was just stupid or hopeful enough to believe what the lieutenant had told her.

“She was in no condition to make up a story,” Lea explained and something about her sincerity made him listen. That or maybe because he was a hopeful fool as well. Lea claimed that from dating one of the med techs stationed on the Enterprise, Lt. MacGyver knew that they removed the cryotubes before he beamed the torpedoes over.

As he listened, it sounded plausible alone for the detail that he doubted someone not involved would know. Just the thought that he might not be alone after all, was just too much to bear. Khan tore himself away from Lea and turned his back on both of them. It was not that he was ashamed of his tears but he wanted a moment to himself to process the news and analyse its validity.

Neither of them moved or said anything, both being too smart for that. Was it actually possible that this had happened? The timing was doubtful but it would also mean that Khan might not have misread the Vulcan from his personnel file that badly. He had not considered him capable of such ruthlessness and if what Lea had told him was true, he would just have underestimated the man’s intelligence.

What mattered was that Khan could not ignore the possibility. This could be true, if there was just the slightest chance that this was real, he had to act upon it. Even if it would put his plans for revenge at jeopardy, in case he was being played again.

“In that case,” Khan having gathered his voice after he felt calm enough again, “we shall prepare the holding cells for our guests from the Federation.”

“What about Lea?” Te’mujen asked.

“Escort her to the captain’s quarters and make sure she doesn’t leave.”

Khan turned to observed her reaction: the doctor was still a bit shaky but much of her composure had returned. Whatever needed to be said between them was not for anyone else to see. It would have to wait until they were on their way. For once, he wanted to have the time for her and Khan also needed to know that everything went smoothly. The ship was almost ready but some work had yet to be done.

The Romulan gestured for Lea to move and they both left the OPs, Khan turned to the surveillance camera and watched them walking towards his ship. He could not make out what they were talking about but it was just a brief conversation. Te’mujen said something to her, she turned slightly towards him, said something short and shrugged. He shook his head and gave a two word reply.

Then they were just silently walking down the corridor.

Before they had reached the goal he got the message that the internal sensors were back online. It helped them to locate a few stray Cardassian and allowed him finally go leave OPs. He needed to prepare the Starfleet crew for transport. If his crew was still alive, the Reliant crew would prove to be valuable bargain chips. Khan also wanted to talk to Lt. MacGyver personally, to evaluate if her story held up when she tried selling it to him.

After he sealed off OPs, he walked straight towards the prison complex. The rifle loosely hanging from his shoulder. He had no real need for it but it would make things easier. If one could say one thing about humans, they tended to never give up even if their position was hopeless. A rifle would make them think twice about starting a fight they could not win.

The lieutenant was locked in with other lower ranking crew members, which Khan approved of whether it had been intentional or not, this way she had no direct line to Commander Terrell. He pointed the rifle at the cell door and opened it via his remote control. Reluctantly, Lt. MacGyver stepped out when he ordered her to.

The crew glared at him, one even worked up the courage to tell him to leave her alone, that she had gone through enough already. Khan could care less, he closed the cell door behind her and then took the lieutenant by her arm and dragged her away while the others protested. The woman was surprisingly calm. It was only when they had left the cell complex and he turned towards her, that he saw that there was something wrong with her.

Whatever Malek had done, she had suffered a trauma. Maybe it had been the torture he had witnessed or additional measures, either way, it made things easier. Phoenix was clearly able to function but she was lacking an emotional response. That explained her detailed but awkwardly worded message and the utter lack of any intonation on it.

“Lt. MacGyver,” he lowered his voice and waited until she was looking at him. “I want to hear everything you know about what happened to my crew.”

“I don’t know where they brought the cryotubes after the incident,” she said flatly.

Khan felt a shiver ran through his body, this became so much more real, he almost dared to believe it now. “How could they possibly get every one out in such short time?”

“I just know that Sarah told me, that they gathered everyone with the technical expertise and managed to remove everyone barely in time to arrange the torpedoes,” the lieutenant said as if she was robot or a Vulcan.

Lea was right, this woman was in no condition to lie. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Of course there as the possibility that something had happened to his crew, but he was not doubting any longer that they had not been in the torpedos when they detonated.

“Looks like have not just saved your planet but also potentially the lives of your fellow crewmembers - because if mine is still alive, I’m willing to trade you.”

Khan was no longer angry at her. It was not just that she brought him new hope, there was something about her state that was making it impossible to harbour aggressions. “Tell me, lieutenant what is your full name?”

“Lt. Phoenix MacGyver,” she said and as he continued on to state her number, he stopped her by raising his hand.

“Phoenix,” he repeated and a smile appeared on his face. ‘Rebirth from fire’, he thought. Being from earth he naturally knew the legend of the bird that burst into flames only to be born anew. He liked that name. “Don’t worry,” he continued to tell her. “If your Starfleet command is reasonable you might all get out of this alive and well.”

“I doubt Starfleet is going to risk letting your crew go free,” she replied and Khan would agree with her. Starfleet was paranoid about Augments, as he had found out by reading old files detailing the previous Enterprises encounters with them. While the feeling of hope was beyond Phoenix’ current mental state, Khan knew it hardly mattered what the Federation would do. If his crew was still there, he would do anything to free them and he would be successful.

“We will see,” Khan told her, before he escorted her back to the cell. From there he went straight to board his new ship. It was time to make it fully operational so they could leave here.

Khan left two of the Romulan's men on the station. All the prisoners were locked up secure and the two had instructions to be on a continuous check-in walk. Checking in on them through the surveillance system Khan could see that they were taking the task seriously and knew what to look for. One thing was sure, Te'mujen's little circle could be a serious threat if the Romulan decided to start a mutiny.

That was a risk Khan needed to take: his ship needed a crew. Now that his crew's return was the new goal, there was of course a chance that the Romulan might decide to act against him to secure the ship for himself. Before it was unlikely that he would risk taking the ship by force as he had to know that after Khan's death someone stood to inherit the ship.

However, if his impression of his first officer was not that far off, there was a chance they could work something out. Khan was able to function without support but he missed having people around him that he could trust. It was more than just having to be constantly on his guard, it was the human connection that he was missing.

One of the reasons why he had reacted so strongly about Lea's betrayal. He had felt something with her, even if it was based on miscalculation, it had seemed that maybe he had someone he might rely on to some degree. Instead, she had proven to be against him. Even with that she could be useful and Khan needed to find out more about her.

Khan realised as he tried to focus on adjusting the guidance system that his crew being alive and Lea's betrayal weighed heavy on his mind. Even more than the danger the Romulan might pose. One reason why the both crew and the doctor were so dominant was the fact that he was still dying. The designer virus would kill him and currently Dr. Jagoda was his best bet to maybe find a cure or at least to stay alive long enough to complete his task.

At least, his new crew was useful and that made it easy to get the ship ready. Khan wanted to leave the station as soon as possible. Malek would not be back for another day but there was always the risk that something unforeseen could happen. They needed to be ready. The final repairs and tests they could do in the darkness of space. The next step was to remove the sabotage Khan had secretly installed into the board systems. 

All that was left to secure the ship for Khan was a twelve hour check-in that verified he was still in control. If not the life-support would shut down irrevocably unless he was reaffirmed as the captain. Preparations took several hours, even before all systems were ready, they had gotten the holding cells ready and Khan used the transporter to beam the prisoners over. It was tricky work but the safest method.

An hour and a couple of minutes later Khan was on the bridge ready to give the orders to remove the docking clamps and to get on the way. Sarren, one of Te'mujen's men, had qualified himself to be the helmsman. Leyvia, an Orion was one of the females of this group had taken her seat in tactical.

"I've to say it's quite impressive that the Cardassians managed to build this in just a couple of month," Te'mujen said.

Sarren laughed. "I bet they’re cursing their efficiency right now."

Khan would have to agree with that sentiment and wondered if the Cardassian scientists and soldiers knew what was going to happen. It seemed universal that these illegal operations by shady organisations with too little supervision by their governments were always good at getting their objectives fulfilled. Of course the last time, the Vengeance had been far more suited for his goals.

"Captain," Leyvia's seductive voice began to ask in a playful tone. "What is her name?"

Khan smiled at her, it was about the time his new ship got her name. For the longest time it would have appeared that Vengeance II or Armageddon were the perfect names for his goal but now he thought otherwise. He had hope, a new purpose was born and however this was turning out: this was a new beginning.

Pressing a few buttons opened communication to the entire ship. "This is your captain - Khan Noonien Singh speaking, we will leave Terrok Tar behind shortly, but I think you should all know the name of the ship that will take us away from this forsaken place." He paused and took a deep breath. "I call her the Phoenix!" Then Khan went on to explain. "Because just like the bird from my planets mythology rises from the ashes to begin a new life, we shall leave this place behind in flames to begin ours."

The bridge crew looked inspired and he gave the orders to pull away, leaving the comm channel still open. He wanted everyone to hear what was going to happen next. Khan was sure Te'mujen knew. He had been right about Sarren being able to fly anything, Khan had just given him a basic rundown of the Federation navigation system and his execution was flawless.

The Phoenix was slowly maneuvering away from the Terrok Tar. "Leyvia would you do us the honour of blasting this station out of orbit?" Khan's tone made this an unmistakable order despite the wording.

The Orion needed about eight seconds to process then she shrugged. "Aye, Captain. Calculating one photon torpedo into the heart of the main refinery would destroy enough of the station to stop life support systems. Three carefully aimed torpedoes could start a chain reaction, that will completely dismantle the station."

Khan smiled, she was good at this. "Use three then, fire at will."

If he was not mistaken she was smiling and certainly eager about destroying the place. "Firing," Leyvia said gleefully and on the monitor they saw three torpedoes flying into the direction of the station. When they detonated they exploded and each of those explosions was followed by a series of smaller explosions that ripple through the station, cracking it open, ripping the parts away until it was nothing but a field of large debris with the occasional body floating around.

"As you can all see, the people who held you prisoner are gone, so is anyone not smart enough to use their chance at freedom. But you have chosen wisely and once I've reached my goal, you can return wherever you want to go. But for now there will be no communication with the outside world. I know you all must be eager to reunite with your families but I cannot let that interfere with my only chance to get mine back."

Khan gave everyone a moment to absorb that message, before he went into further detail.

"I won't take long, be patient a bit longer and you will get home - work against me and you'll regret it. Now, see to your assigned stations. Captain out."

In time he would need to find a personal connection to the members of his rag tag crew. They needed to know that as long as they cooperated, they would be able to go home. Convincing them that he would make them pay if they went against him was always the easy part. Blowing up the station might even seem a bit much to drive that message across, but that had not been the main reason for his actions: This was to hurt Malek and keep him from finding out the strength of this crew or what had taken place.

The thing was, Khan used to have a plan, one that was thwarted in two ways: The warning towards Starfleet and the new information that rescue not revenge for his crew might be in order. He needed to decide on a new strategy and he needed better information to decide on the right one. A couple of ideas formed in his mind already.

His first step was to grill Te'mujen for more information. Locations the smugglers used, planets with a certain kind of technology available that was nonetheless technological not advanced enough to be considered first contact worthy. Khan thought that planetside was the safest location to do an exchange of crews, at least if Starfleet would agree to an exchange. More current information on the Federation's current political position would also be helping.

So for now the Phoenix headed as suggested to a planet called Nimbus III. The Federation and almost every other government considered the planet somewhat neutral and it was a smuggler heaven. It would be a two day voyage at full warp and Khan was not yet willing to drive the engines to the limit. He would use the remaining days to drive up the efficiency of his crew, right after he had regained his peace of mind. Khan gave the bridge to the Romulan and left for his quarters: it was about time he had a conversation with Dr. Jagoda.

Arriving in the quarters of the captain, which were the largest on the ship, he discovered that Te'mujen had taken the securing part quit serious. Lea was cuffed to one of the chairs which was firmly bolted to the ground. Her arms went through the hole between the backrest and the seating.

Khan smiled, she had been like this for hours and yet maintained this calm dignity. He could see the first bruising appear on her neck. Without saying anything he walked over to the table and sat down at the chair on the other side. He placed his arms on the round surface of the table and leaned forward.

"Now, what I'm going to do with you?"

It was not strictly a purely rhetorical question, but he was not expecting an answer from her.He wondered what to do with her, part of him wanted to believe she was not with Starfleet. That way he might be able to forgive her, as she did brought him the news about his crew maybe being alive after all.

Lea shrugged, "You could untie me, it's not like I'm going anywhere."

"We'll see about that," he replied but he liked that she had asked. However, Khan wanted to start this conversation with this arrangement in place. It drove the point home that she was the prisoner and once he removed the cuffs, Khan feared the lines might blur too fast. This way he could remain his distance without effort. "You prepared the escape from your room. I think from the very beginning you knew you were going to betray me."

"I knew, if I could stop you, I'd use that chance," Lea said entirely unapologetic. "As we never had any kind of agreement and I made it quite clear I disapprove of your plan, I hardly count this as betrayal."

Khan took a deep breath, "You told me you'll help me find a cure, so I think that counts."

"Of course, I'll help you find a cure. I'm a doctor - I save lives," Lea shook her head. "You honestly think that I'd stand by watching you burn down my home planet? I might feel disconnected from it but it is the only home I have, the only one I might ever know."

He looked at her and the soft glimmer in her eyes, realising he should have seen it sooner. While part of Lea still looked for something she might never find, she had found herself in what she was doing. Even though she was on the road, doing her work as a healer had become just as important to her as finding out about herself.

"If my crew is indeed still alive, I'm going to set them free," Khan told her. "But I don't know if I got enough time left."

Lea took a deep breath, her serious doctor face reemerging. "I don't know either, this designer virus - there is something wrong about it. Maybe I'm not smart enough to figure out how it works," she shrugged again. "So I can't guarantee you that I can give you that time."

"I guess, I can't accuse you of being deceitful," Khan said thoughtfully.

His instinct told him that Lea was genuine, it seemed like the only plausible way for him to have fooled him that badly: Because the error lied with his false assumptions about her. It was true she had no liked his plan and he had figured she would value her own life too much to go up against him. Being alone and disconnected from her homeworld he had not thought she would care enough to risk her own life. Strangely, it made him respect her even more. He still felt wounded by her actions but as his anger faded, he began seeing her even more as an equal.

While she lacked the strength of Augment, she was smart and talented enough to impress him and she had shown the backbone to stand up for her principles. Khan had always respected his enemies if they were deserving of it. He just had preferred for them to be allies.

"Apart maybe from my age," Lea admitted.

Khan smiled. "Yes, but I guess that is a woman's prerogative. Even though you look rather stunning for a woman over seventy."

"Yes, I guess, I do;" she smiled back. "I guess that’s why my father had to leave. Not aging would have eventually tipped my mother off."

It would seem reasonable to assume that the agelessness was a trait from her father's race. He wondered if she had any other hidden advantages. Khan did not necessarily assumed that her intellect came from her father's race as even without genetic engineering humans could be incredibly smart. Not to mention some Augments were not capable of using their vast intellect, as their aggressions kept them from reflecting or thinking their actions through.

Khan rose and watched Lea's subtle twitch, without saying anything he walked around the table and leaned closer. Just taking her smell and the breath on his face in. Then he reached behind her and unlocked her cuffs. Leaning back against the table, he watched her as she slowly moved her arms to lap resisting the temptation to immediately rub her wrists.

"I'm not going to trust you - but I'll give the chance to earn your freedom."

"If I find a cure?" Lea asked timidly.

"If you keep me alive long enough so I can free my crew," Khan told her adding in his thoughts, 'or long enough for me to exact my revenge.' Either way he was flexible, although Khan was incredible hopeful that his crew was indeed alive.

Lea nodded. "I guess now we have a deal."

"Yes, and I would advise not crossing me again."

Saying as much he knew it was almost superfluous, he was sure if his crew turned out to be dead after all, Lea would try to stop him from attacking Earth. He walked past her and stared through the viewscreen to the space beyond. Khan would have to observe her, Te'mujen and everyone carefully but if he wanted to succeed he needed someone he could rely on. The Federation would not expect that and it would give him more options now that surprise was no longer on his side.

Whether it was rescue or revenge, he would not fail. Not again.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's a bit open ended but I'm afraid it might be some time before I write the second large part of the trilogy I had in mind. Make sure to subscribe to the series if you're curious about it.


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